Phase Three
by BluEyes
Summary: Rachel helps Chandler achieve Phase Three...and then some. Randler. COMPLETE, a-woo-hoo!
1. Tequila Shots Chased with Beer

Phase Three

_Um…Mondler fans, don't hate me. This isn't my normal pairing. I don't know what's come over me lately, but…I'm kinda liking the whole Rachel/Chandler pairing. Mondler is like, aw, cute! But, Randler…it's like, bam, hot! So, if you're gonna hate me based on that, hit back now! :) Or, don't, and give it a chance, because I actually used to loathe the thought of them, but, after reading a few fics this past week, I am now totally loving the idea. Ok…this takes place in season 4, but you'll figure that out. Or did already from the title. I don't own them. Or much else, really._

_._._

His lips hit hers like a ton of bricks, and not at all in a bad way. It was fast, and hard, and unexpected. It was full of lust and passion, confusing yet comfortable. It wasn't a first kiss with someone type kiss. Not at all what it had felt like the first time she kissed Ross, which she half-expected, seeing as they were pretty good friends as well.

But, no. This was different. He tasted slightly like the cigarette they had just shared, but mostly like alcohol. Or was she just tasting herself?

But, god, he smelled like Chandler. Why had she never realized this was how Chandler smelled before? Whatever it was, it was fantastic.

They pulled back slightly, confusion evident on both of their faces. "Rach," he started slowly, softly, out of breath, deeper than he usually spoke.

She wordlessly held a finger up to his lips, looking into his eyes. His deep blue eyes. God, how did she never see his eyes before, either? Well, she remembered thinking, at some point in time, that he did have very pretty eyes, but…God, how did she never really see them before? Or perhaps it was the look in them that had her mesmerized. Or maybe it was still the aftershock of the kiss. Or the tequila shots chased with beer. They were still leaning up against the brick wall outside the bar, one of his arms leaning against the wall for support, the other hand laced through her own. She traced his jaw line before pulling his face back down to her own, raking her fingers through his hair as she kissed him again. And, god, it was just like the first time. She wasn't sure if it was the tequila or him, but, god, was it intoxicating. She leaned into him as his hand found the small of her back, and the feeling of his fingers on the bare patch of skin directly below her shirt made her tremble.

Was she really making out with Chandler? _Chandler_? Outside, around the corner from a bar? In the middle of the night? She shouldn't be doing this. But this seemed like a different Chandler, not her friend Chandler. Was this the Chandler Monica saw sometimes? Monica had drunkenly admitted once that if she were to choose between Joey and Chandler to sleep with, she would hands-down pick Chandler. And they were close. A lot closer than she and Chandler were. Had Monica ever done this with Chandler?

Not the Geller she should be worrying about…

Chandler pulled back, and it crossed Rachel's mind that he was thinking the same thing. "Apartment…bedroom?" he asked softly. Rachel smiled in return; if he was thinking the same thing, he sure as hell wasn't letting it show. Rachel nodded, stepping forward, slipping her hand in his as they silently made their way (slightly stumbling) back to their building.

This wasn't how this night was supposed to go.

That morning, Chandler was still in sweatpants. Still in phase one over Kathy. Joey smelled like death, or rather, whatever caused death, and Ross had decided to be spontaneous for once in his life and was off with that stupid British girl. Elizabeth, was it? Though the girls had stepped in and taken him to a strip club, becoming friends with the strippers wasn't really what he needed to achieve phase three.

Later that day, Monica and Phoebe were off doing….something, that wasn't important. Ross was still having fun with his stupid foreign girl, and Joey…still smelled like whatever was in that carton she had pulled out of the back of the guys' refrigerator after they switched apartments.

So, when Rachel pointed out that, being a girl, she wasn't good at the whole strip-club thing, but, being pissed at Ross and frustrated with Joshua, she could probably be pretty good at the whole going to a regular bar and getting completely trashed thing. Chandler agreed.

It had started out innocently. A couple of beers, some talking. But somehow, somehow the talking and friendly banter between them had turned into something else. She wasn't sure when she realized that it had gone from banter to full-fledged flirting, but it had. Completely mutual flirting. And who suggested the first round of tequila shots was still up in the air, but that definitely had some kind of effect on the flirting. The feeding the fire, kind of effect.

They heard the last call. Had they really stayed out that late? Looking around and seeing they were the last ones in there, it indeed was that late. So, they took one last shot for the road, arms interlaced, before leaving. She was pretty sure Chandler paid their tab. Did that make it a date?

They were arguing over something when they walked outside. Playfully arguing. More flirting. What had it been? God, what had it been? Not important, not important.

Smoking. It had been about smoking. Chandler had pulled out a cigarette. She pulled it out of his mouth. He grabbed another one and a lighter. Rachel frowned, holding hers out to be lit. She remembered him grinning, and then laughing when she coughed horribly after the first drag. Rachel was definitely _not_ a smoker. He then grabbed the cigarette from her mouth, taking a drag, and telling her not to waste it if she wasn't going to do it right. They were standing close. Too close. Closer than Chandler and Rachel stand.

And that was when his lips hit hers like a ton of bricks, the forgotten cigarette falling to the ground.

"Uh, Rach?" Chandler broke into her thoughts. "Do you still wanna…" he motioned to his door, well, formerly her door, seeing as they had switched apartments. Rachel nodded, following him in the front door. They both audibly sighed with relief at the realization that Joey was gone.

Now it was awkward.

"Do you, um, need anything, or anything?" Chandler threw his keys on the counter before turning back to Rachel.

"Another cigarette?" she mused, taking a step towards him.

Chandler snorted. "No way am I wasting another cigarette on you!"

"Well, then we could get back to the other thing we were doing outside?"

"Mm, good idea," he grabbed her waist pulling her closer.

"Bedroom," she whispered in his ear, biting it slightly as they moved backwards towards his bedroom. Formerly her bedroom. "Your walls are still pink," Rachel laughed, and Chandler pushed her backwards, onto the bed.

"Yea, well, we're gonna trade back eventually, right?"

"Really?" Rachel's eyes lit up.

"Nope. I'm just screwing with you," he said with a grin, and, god, did that grin make her melt. What the hell was happening tonight? "Rach?"

"No, no thinking now," she pulled him down on top of her, wanting another one of those infuriatingly good kisses. "We'll do some thinking in the morning. A whole of thinking. To make up for tonight."

"Sounds good to me," he mumbled, giving in and kissing her again, this time slower, softer, sweeter. God, it had the same effect, though. She crumbled beneath him, struggling to find the coherence to maneuver her hand enough to get to his belt, then the button on his jeans, then the zipper, and he kicked them to the ground. She reached around her back, undoing her bra from underneath her shirt, slipping it off through the sleeve of her shirt. The look on Chandler's face after seeing that was exactly what she was going for. This was going to be fun…

Rachel woke up, head pounding, slightly confused. At least she was in her own room. Wait, no. Her walls, someone else's bed. Blue flannel sheets. Chandler's bed. Chandler had her room right now. Rachel held her breath, remembering the night before, rolling over slowly to face Chandler. He was still sleeping, and, god, did he look adorable. His hair all messed up, mouth slightly open. Wait, what? No, this feeling was supposed to be because of the alcohol, not Chandler.

Or, was it?

Rachel moved closer, resting a hand on his bare chest, kissing his cheek. He stirred, eyes opening, confused at first, then less confused, remembering the night before. Maybe neither of them was as drunk as they let themselves believe. She needed a kiss, needed to know, needed affirmation of whether the feelings she remembered feeling were from Chandler or the tequila. Although part of her was rooting for Chandler, a slightly more rational part of her was hoping it was the tequila.

He kissed her before she had the chance to make the first move. He still tasted like alcohol, but so did she. His hand was on the back of her head, fingers tangled in her hair, holding her close, as if she would disappear at any moment. Her hand still lingered on his bare chest, and she moved closer, wanting to wrap her arms completely around him, wanting to feel his skin against hers.

Yea, the feelings _definitely_ weren't because of the tequila.

_._._

_And that, children, is the story of how Jamie decided to officially 'ship Chandler and Rachel. I like them. I will be writing more of them._

_This, however, I think will be a stand-alone. I like it as a stand-alone, though it probably could go farther. Yes? No? Love it? Hate it? Think I should just write Mondler and pretend this didn't ever happen? :) Review, please and thanks!_


	2. Shades of Grey

Phase Three

Chapter 2: Shades of Grey

_So, I know I said I wasn't going to continue this, but…well…I really want to. I love LOVE this as a one-shot, but I'm dying to have a Randler series, and, well, all of my other ideas blow, but this one actually blended nicely with another idea I had, so…yea. Mondler fans-there will be some Mondler action as well if you can stick it out, haha. Anywho, here we go…_

~.~

Chandler continued to kiss Rachel as she moved on top of him, his arms securely around her, as if to prove this wasn't just a dream. He wasn't really sure what this was, but he didn't want it to stop now. But, he knew it _should_ stop now. He knew they needed to stop and do some thinking, possibly some talking. A whole lot of talking. And, at the moment, maybe even a little puking on his part.

But this felt too good. Too right. Infuriatingly right. Horribly good. Horribly, horribly, horribly good.

Which was why he needed to stop. Right. That. Second. He knew he started it, he kissed her first, but he also knew they couldn't keep going. This wasn't the kind of kissing that stopped at just kissing. This was the kind of kissing that lead to more, and it was leading to it any second.

Sober sex wasn't quite as excusable as drunken sex. That is, if you even could excuse drunken sex as just that…

Chandler sat up, Rachel still on top of him, leaning up against the headboard. His intention had been to move away from her, but she ran her fingers through his hair, grasping the back of his head as she moved with him, not letting him pull away from the kiss, much less away from her.

God, why did her kisses, her skin against his, have to feel like this? It was very infuriating.

They were naked. Completely naked. And hungover. Naked, and hungover, and very close to an encore performance of the night before.

As Rachel wrapped her legs around his back, he groaned out-loud, somewhere between agony and pleasure, as he tried to muster up some sort of willpower to pull away from her. Just for a second. Because if they stopped, just for a second, they could talk about how stupid and ridiculous this was.

Ross. That's all he would have to say, and it would stop. Ross. Just that word. Ross. One syllable. Four letters.

How ironic that it was a four-letter word.

He tried to think of something, anything, to keep his mind off of the kissing and the touching and the nakedness. Something other than the fact that making out with her, despite still tasting like tequila, was pretty darn close to perfection. He tried thinking of how Joey smelled the day before. Hockey. Doug slapping his ass. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. The time he walked in on his parents having a threesome. The time he walked in on Joey having a threesome. Ross kicking his ass.

Ross kicking his ass.

"Mmm…Rach?" he finally choked out, moving so that his face, at least, was a few inches away from hers.

"Hmm?"

"We should…We shouldn't," he choked out, voice audibly shaky.

"I know," she breathed out in a whisper, widening the distance between them as she took a few deep breaths to steady her own shaky breathing. Chandler closed his eyes, leaning his head against the wall behind his bed. "God, what time is it?" Rachel groaned, clutching the blanket in front of her as she leaned over to both look at the clock and grab her clothes from the floor. "6:02," she grumbled, standing up to get dressed.

"Well, that explains why I'm pretty sure I'm still drunk," Chandler continued, eyes still closed, both wishing away the awkwardness that had ensued as soon as the kissing had stopped, as well as trying to keep down the contents of his stomach. When he felt the bed shift again under Rachel's weight as she sat beside him, slipping one of her shoes on, he opened his eyes, forcing a small smile.

"Do we need to talk about this?" Rachel sighed, dropping her left foot to the floor as she grabbed her other shoe.

"Probably," Chandler sighed, sliding closer to her as he watched her pull her shoes on. God, how did she make the usually mundane task look even slightly sexy?

"Yea," she sighed. "Because this is bad, right?" she asked, motioning between them, one black high-heel still in hand. "Last night was bad. Really bad. Really, really bad," she continued, sliding the remaining high-heel onto her right foot.

"Well, not _all_ of it was bad," Chandler added, unconsciously moving his hand closer to hers.

"Yea, not all of it," Rachel replied with a smile, letting him play with her hand, her fingers gliding between his. The small movement had her heart racing again, but she tried to push that away, thinking much more clearly than the night before. "No!" She snatched her hand away from his. "Good is bad! This," she dramatically motioned between them, standing up to distance herself from a still naked Chandler, "is bad!"

"Right, bad!" Chandler agreed with an overdramatic nod, kneeling forward as he clutched the blanket in front of him. "I mean, Ro-"

"Don't say it," Rachel interrupted him, covering his mouth with her hand. "Just, don't even say his name, okay?" She dropped her hand back down. "Because we both know that as bad as this is, it would be phenomenally badder if Ross found out about it."

"It might be phenomenally 'badder' if Ross heard you use the word 'badder' in place of worse," Chandler laughed, and Rachel couldn't help but smile. She shook her head at him for a second, picking her purse up from the ground.

"Stop saying things that make you look cute," she warningly pointed the purse at him. "Well," she sighed, "I'm gonna go home now before anyone else wakes up."

"'Kay. So we just…" he trailed off, looking at her in bewilderment. There was no way she could not be feeling exactly what he was feeling at the moment, all of the heart-racing stuff, in spite of all of the repercussions that might occur. She couldn't be that good at faking it in the middle of all of the kissing and touching. She couldn't still be that drunk from the night before if she was speaking so coherently.

"Just pretend last night didn't happen, I guess," she replied with a shrug, nearly whispering. "I mean, I don't think we really have any other choice."

"Right," he nodded, watching as she turned to leave. "Uh, Rach?"

"Yea?"

"Hey, um, thanks for helping me achieve Phases Three, Four, and Five all in one night," he smiled shyly. Rachel felt her knees begin to buckle at that smile, but quickly stopped that thought, reminding herself that this was Chandler, Ross's friend, Chandler. That made them very off limits to each other.

"Three, four, and five?" She raised her eyebrows.

"Ask Joey sometime," he shrugged. "There are seven and a half stages in all, it's-it's complicated," he paused for a moment. "Well, as complicated as something Joey came up with can be."

"Right," Rachel smirked. "Well, thanks for taking my mind off of Joshua at least," she forced a laugh, which she even knew sounded fake. "And ya know, taking my mind off…who we're not talking about," she added as an after-thought as she reached for the doorknob. "See ya later, Chandler," she whispered, glancing back with a half-smile before walking out his door.

Once he heard the front door close as well, Chandler sank down into the bed, burying his face in his pillow. "Fuck," he mumbled into it, hitting the bed beside him with his left fist.

Why had the whole Ross Situation, capital R, capital S, not seemed like such a big deal the night before? Well, obviously, the alcohol had played a rather large role in playing down the Ross Situation, but how did he let this happen? How drunk did he have to be to kiss, to sleep with, Rachel? Rachel! Ross's Rachel! Because even though she wasn't Ross's Rachel at that moment, and even though Ross had an Emily, she was still Ross's Rachel. The entire length of time he had known Ross, from the age of 18, he had thought of Rachel as "Ross's Rachel."

"Fuck," he repeated, rolling over to stare at the ceiling. The room still seemed to be spinning, either from the rush of Rachel, or from the excessive alcohol and small amount of sleep the night before. The former was the more likely culprit, and what he feared the most. He turned towards his nightstand to look at the clock, Rachel's jacket from the night before still haphazardly thrown on top of it. "Fuck," he whispered, once again forcing his eyes shut.

Why did he have to go and sleep with Ross's Rachel? But, more importantly, why was his heart still racing after simply making out with her, from the small contact of holding her hand, when he knew it was all so wrong?

And why the hell did all of it have to feel so right?

~.~

Rachel quickly tiptoed through the guys' apartment once she was out of Chandler's room, eager to get back to her own. Away from the Crime Scene. Back to sanity. Because nothing about that night made sense. Not a damn thing.

She slept with Chandler. _Chandler_. One of Ross's best friends. Ross, of the former Ross and Rachel. Ross who had been "in love" with her since she was 15. Ross! How drunk and stupid did she have to be for that to happen? And with Chandler of all people. Chandler! She had never once thought of him that way. Joey, maybe. But, Chandler? He was…_Chandler_. Not that she thought of him as completely unattractive, she had just never even considered the possibility. He was her goofy friend, Chandler. Guy who lives across the hall, Chandler. Drink a couple of beers with Chandler. Even have occasional lunches with Chandler. Not…get drunk, stay out all night with, and then have amazing sex with Chandler.

Rachel closed her eyes, leaning back against her own front door after closing it, trying to decipher what her heart and head were trying to communicate with each other.

Why the hell did he have to go and kiss her again that morning? Why couldn't he have just left them thinking there was nothing between them that wasn't alcohol-induced?

And why, in the hell, did she have to go and kiss back?

~.~

_Continue some more? I've got some plans :) I wrote this in the school library today (which may be my new writing spot) in-between finishing up my final paper for my capstone lab class, which is why I'm slacking on I'll Be There For You (the next part is coming, I promise!), so if anyone would like to read a 15-page paper on free-shaping vs luring in training dogs….haha, that was a funny joke. I wrote it, and I don't even want to read it! Nothing is more boring than reading psych articles, and I'm a psych major intending to go to grad school. _

_Anyway, I can keep going with this, or I think, again, I could just leave it here. Like I said, if I keep going, there's gonna be some Mondler thrown in there eventually, but more Randler as well. Lemme know :) Reviews are a nice little surprise in-between paper-writing and GRE-studying…_


	3. Not Ready for This Sort of Thing

Phase Three

Chapter 3: Not Ready for This Sort of Thing

_How, you may ask, is this going to have some Mondler in it? O-oh, you shall see, my friends…You shall see :) I'm super excited to write this series. Like, really super excited. Oh, and Rachoey? __**Don't**__ even get me started on my dislike for them as a couple…Randler works together much better, in my opinion, despite my deep love for Mondler and general affection for R/R. That's just my opinion, though._

~.~

"Well, good morning, you," Monica laughed as Chandler finally emerged from his room in boxers and a t-shirt with an open robe, obviously hung-over. "Judging from the state that you and Rachel are in, I would guess you guys had some fun last night."

Chandler scoffed at her statement; if she only knew. He sat down on, or rather landed on after barely making it across the living room to the kitchen, one of the bar stools next to the foosball table. "Yea, something like that," he mumbled.

"You want something to eat?" she offered.

Chandler groaned, "Yes, but no." He leaned his elbows against the foosball table, resting his cheek in the palm of his hand. Whatever they had been drinking the night before seemed to be having a worse and worse effect as time went by. "Where is everyone else? "

"Well, Rachel is in about the same state you are, but in our bathroom," Monica explained, starting to make some toast, ignoring his request for no food. "Which, by the way, is really disgusting, because I don't think it will ever come clean from you boys," she looked at him, and he gave a slight smile in apology. "Ross is still with Emily, and," she thought for a second. "No idea where Phoebe and Joey are," she shrugged, buttering the toast after it popped up in the toaster. "By the way, Ross is bringing Emily over later for dinner so we can all officially meet her. Hopefully you're more coherent by then," she added with a smirk, setting the toast down in front of him.

Chandler shook his head. "Thanks, Mon, but," he made a face, "tequila chased with beer just doesn't stay down as well when you're on the 30 side of 25 and not the 20 side of 25."

Monica laughed, sitting down next to him, her own bowl of cereal in hand. "What the hell did you two do last night?"

Chandler laughed out loud, purposely avoiding the question. Instead, he took a small bite of the toast before standing up, hoping that would appease her. "I'm gonna go shower. Thanks for the toast, Mon," he patted her shoulder as he walked past her and into the bathroom, hoping a shower would clear his mind. He needed to get out of there, worried he looked as guilty as he felt, and that Monica would somehow miraculously figure him out.

~.~

Rachel looked up from her spot on the couch, wrapped up in a blanket and reading a book, when the front door opened. "Hey," she whispered, setting the book down in front of her, still gripping its edges.

"Hey," Chandler replied, crossing the kitchen slowly. "Are you reading one of my mom's books?" he asked, after seeing the cover of what she was trying to sneakily hide.

Rachel looked down at the book, then back up. "Only if you don't judge me for it?"

"Well, as long as you don't judge me for being her son, we're even," he grinned, sitting down beside her and pulling the book cover forward so he could see it. "_Lust at Dusk_. That's a good one."

"Oh! Have you read it?!" Rachel leaned forward in excitement, causing Chandler to laugh out loud.

"Right, because reading about sex that was written by my mother wouldn't completely mess me up or anything."

"Really can't do much more damage," Rachel grinned, going back to her book.

"Hey now," Chandler replied pretending to be hurt as he took the book from her.

"Hey!"

"Well, if you can't play nicely, you don't get your porn!"

"It's not porn," Rachel insisted as she grabbed it back. "It's a romance novel," she huffed, causing Chandler to laugh.

"Whatever you have to tell yourself," he smiled, patting her arm as he settled beside her.

"Are you flirting with me?" Rachel again closed the book, turning to face him.

"Not if you're not flirting with me?" he replied slowly, not sure which answer she was looking for.

"Hm," Rachel sighed, thinking it over for a moment. "Well, we probably shouldn't do that."

"Definitely," Chandler nodded in agreement, watching as Rachel went back to her book. "Hey, um, what are you doing today?"

"Why?" Rachel again looked up.

"We can hang out, right? I mean, we're friends, so, hanging out's ok, because, I think, by definition, hanging out is what friends do," he rambled. "So, what are you doing today? Wanna hang out, or…something?"

Rachel laughed at how cute he looked in his uncertainty. "I think hanging out is allowed. I'm, uh, getting a mani/pedi later," Rachel said, getting an idea. "Oh, you should come!" She grabbed his arm. "There are always a couple of guys there, too!"

"Um, like getting my nails done?" Chandler shook his head. "These guys aren't straight, right?"

"You don't have to get your nails painted or anything," Rachel said as if that should have been obvious, turning towards him completely. "If you get a pedicure, they just massage your feet and legs and file your nails and stuff. It's like…heaven."

"Mmmm," Chandler hummed, thinking it over.

"Oh, come on!" Rachel grabbed his arm in excitement. "Oh! I'll buy you dinner after?"

"Hey, I'm not Joey. You can't just buy me with food," Chandler feigned offense, crossing his arms. "And, I don't think this whole manicure thing would do anything for my supposedly questionable sexuality…"

"Fine, stay here alone," Rachel dropped his arm, standing up, but Chandler grabbed her arm as she turned to go to her room.

"No, stay here and hang out with me."

"No, you come with me," Rachel challenged back, taking his hand off of her arm so she could go to her room to get ready. "And, for the record," she added as she turned around at her door, "I don't think your sexuality should ever be in question again." She winked at him before closing the door.

Chandler sighed in defeat. Damn her. "Fine, but you'd better be taking me somewhere really nice for dinner!" he yelled after her through the closed door.

~.~

"Well, that was fun," Chandler said through gritted teeth as he and Rachel left the nail salon. "One," he held up a finger, "no other men there, but _our_ mailman. Two," he held another finger up, "we run into Janice. And three," he held up a third finger, glaring at Rachel, "You tell Janice we all need to get together to catch up. That woman is going to be calling me for weeks!"

Rachel laughed, grabbing the three fingers he was holding up. "Come on, was it really that bad?"

"Oh, Janice, it's so nice to see you," he began mocking Rachel, pulling his hand away from hers. "We should really all catch up sometime. Oh, dinner? All six of us? That would be so much fun!"

Rachel laughed. "Sorry," she smiled apologetically. "If it makes you feel any better, we do have your apartment, so she's actually going to be calling us for weeks, not you…"

"Well, that makes me feel a little better," Chandler said with a nod as they continued walking. "And, it might have been just a teeny, tiny bit fun other than that," he grinned sheepishly.

"Told you," Rachel elbowed him, and he smiled at her.

"So, where you taking me to dinner?" Chandler asked, purposely brushing his hand against hers every few steps as they walked. Rachel didn't fail to notice, but didn't stop him. She was half hoping he would just hold her damn hand. This felt like an awkward first date in high school, not like two adult friends hanging out.

Friends. He shouldn't hold her hand.

"What?" Chandler finally asked, off the look on Rachel's face, having been glancing at her for the past few minutes. "I don't know your looks."

"Exactly!" Rachel nodded, pointing to one of the usual pizza places they ordered from. Chandler nodded, crossing the street as well.

"Exactly what?"

"You don't know my looks because we, you and me, never hang out," she explained. "Why don't we ever hang out, just us? You hang out with Monica, I hang out with Monica, why isn't it ever just the two of us?" Rachel stopped walking as they reached the restaurant.

"Well," Chandler started slowly. "It's just that, I've kinda always felt like…"

"You've felt like," Rachel urged him on.

"I've kind of always felt like, when it comes to you and Phoebe…I kind of annoy you guys sometimes. Well, a lot of the time," Chandler answered honestly.

"What? Chandler, that's, well, you do sometimes tell just a few too many jokes at our expense, and you don't make the best first impression in the world, but it's not like we dislike you or don't want to see you," Rachel touched his cheek. "You don't annoy me anymore than any other man in the world, if that makes you feel any better."

Chandler laughed. "A little better," he said softly, placing a hand on her forearm, gently pulling her hand away from his face. "This might be pushing the limits on what's allowed…"

Rachel nodded, taking a slow breath in and out, noticing the discrepancy between his words and his actions. He was still holding onto her hand. "Hypocrite," she finally choked out, hating that this still felt like a high school date. Her heart was racing, and he was only holding her hand, standing only slightly too close.

Chandler shrugged, casually dropping her hand as he opened the door for her, placing the same hand on the small of her back as she walked through in front of him.

"Hypocrite," Rachel repeated, glancing back with a playful look in her eyes that showed she didn't really care one bit.

"Guilty," he leaned forward, whispering into her hair as they walked inside. He glided his fingers across her back, his heart skipping a beat when she took his hand this time. If his heart hadn't been about to beat its way out of his chest and possibly half-way across the country from there, he would have smiled. But, with senses or emotions or hormones of something in complete overdrive, he couldn't even force one.

In that instant, he knew. He was more sure than he had been at any time earlier in the day. In that one instant, he knew. Part of him hated it, but he knew.

He was in trouble. Big, big trouble.

~.~

"Today was a lot of fun," Chandler smiled, turning to Rachel as they entered the hallway between apartments 19 and 20.

"Yea, it was," Rachel agreed with a nod. "Well-"

"Where have you guys been?!" Monica opened the door to apartment 20, obviously having heard them come home. Off of their looks, she added, "Ross wanted to bring Emily over, and for all of us to have dinner with her…"

"Oh my god, Mon, I completely forgot," Chandler apologized, suddenly remembering their conversation that morning.

"Sorry, Mon," Rachel added.

"Well, there's still some food. Hurry before Joey gets it all," she moved to let them come in.

"Well, we kind of already ate," Chandler continued apologetically.

"Chandler!" Joey jumped up as he came in. "Did you do anything today worth mentioning?" he asked accusingly.

"I, I, um, I," Chandler looked around the room, suddenly finding it hard to swallow. That didn't take long.

"You need a hint?" Joey moved closed. "Oh, My, God."

Chandler laughed, having forgotten about running into her. "Oh, Janice called, did she?" he continued with a laugh. "Yea, we ran into her today. Rachel here decided it would be a good idea to agree with her when she said we should all catch up sometime."

"Rachel!" Joey stepped towards her. "Why would you do that?! You know she has a way of sucking poor Chandler in. Do you want to make him, and by him, I mean, _us_, miserable for the next month or so?"

"Who's Janice?" Emily asked, and the other six in the room turned towards her.

"Chandler's ex, very annoying," Ross answered. "Where were you guys all day that you ran into Janice?"

"Nail salon," Rachel replied, sitting down in one of the barca loungers. Everyone else in the room turned immediately towards Chandler.

"You couldn't have lied?" Chandler grumbled, crossing his arms defensively.

"You got your nails done?" Ross asked with a laugh.

"No! Well, not painted, like some people let Rachel talk them into," Chandler shot back defensively, and Ross backed off, suddenly very interested in the pattern on the plate in front of him.

"Dude, seriously?" Joey looked at Chandler.

Chandler shrugged. "She bought me dinner."

"Ah, gotcha," Joey nodded, obviously agreeing that a free dinner would be worth the small hit to his own masculinity as well.

~.~

Chandler sat on the balcony, out of view from anyone who might be inside. The girls had gone home earlier, and Joey had gone to bed early, saying something about an early audition. After Ross and Emily had headed back to Ross's place, he was finally alone. Taking the pack of cigarettes from the flowerpot beneath the window, Chandler sighed.

He couldn't get her off his mind.

She was off-limits, so maybe that was why. Ross, one of his best friends, since college, Ross, had loved her for years. Had dated her. That made her off-limits. He couldn't date her. Couldn't sleep with her. Couldn't kiss her. Couldn't go around holding her hand and acting like he was dating her like he had all day.

He was breaking every damn rule in the book.

And he wasn't even over Kathy yet. He didn't want to be in a relationship. He didn't even want to like someone. How dare she go and make his heart race and his mind become even more incomprehensible than usual when he didn't even want it at the moment.

And why was it Rachel of all people?

Taking a deep drag of his cigarette, he looked up as someone came out the window as well. Speaking of the devil.

"Hey, you," she whispered, brushing some dirt from the ground as she sat beside him.

"Hey," he replied, smiling in spite of himself. She smiled in return, watching as he put out his cigarette, though it was far from gone.

"Was that a date we went on today?" Rachel asked, picking at the chipping flowerpot in an attempt to avoid eye contact.

"I'm kind of afraid it was," Chandler answered, and Rachel nodded in agreement.

"We can't do this, though, can we?" she whispered, looking at the lights from the building across the street rather than at him.

"I-I don't think so," he whispered in return, playing with the pack of cigarettes in his hands, both of them obviously afraid of what eye contact would mean.

"Because of Ro-Ross," Rachel stumbled over the name.

"Because of Ross."

"But, Ross has Emily," Rachel pointed out.

Chandler nodded, more to himself than anything, since Rachel still was avoiding looking at him. "I've thought about that. But…I don't know. He just, he practically worshiped you for so long, and it took so long for you guys to be okay around each other after you broke up, and…I care about him, and you, too much to just go and screw that up as soon as everything is finally normal again."

"Right," Rachel whispered. "God, you're right, huh?"

Chandler brushed his hand against her cheek, turning her face so it was towards him. "You can't just tell me I'm wrong about all of it?" Rachel closed her eyes, shaking her head fiercely before leaning against the brick building behind them. "I know," he whispered, removing his hand from her face. "I've been trying for hours to convince myself of that…"

"Can I-Can I have one?" Rachel choked out, reaching for his cigarettes.

Chandler smiled, nodding as he handed her the pack. "As long as you don't waste it," he said softly, and she smiled, holding back the tears that threatened any second. Less than 48 hours before, this conversation wouldn't have been taking place. How could so much have changed so quickly?

Rachel took a short drag, holding the smoke in her mouth for a moment before exhaling. "We're in pretty big trouble here, aren't we?"

"A whole shit-load of trouble," Chandler agreed, lighting his own cigarette.

"What do we-what do we do?"

"Keep on ignoring it?" Chandler suggested.

"Right," Rachel laughed. "Like we did today? We tried to ignore it, and we ended up on a date."

Chandler nodded. "Yea. Maybe we need to work on our ignoring skills…"

Rachel paused, frowning at the sky as she looked up. When she finally spoke, it was in a barely audible whisper. "I don't want to ignore you, though."

Chandler closed his eyes. His taste for off-limits women was impeccable as of late. He slid his hand beside hers on the concrete, his pinky barely brushing up against hers. "I don't want to ignore you, either."

~.~

_Review, please and thank ya! :) Extra credit if you can guess, by chapter titles, what song inspired me to continue this…_


	4. I am not worried

Phase Three

Chapter 4: I am not worried; I am not overly concerned

~.~

Rachel pushed her salad around on her plate, looking up every time the door to the deli opened. She was usually the one running late, not him. They had decided that while it was probably best not to completely pursue their feelings towards each other, there was nothing wrong with spending more time together. A lot more time together. It wasn't dating unless they actually called it dating. It was just two friends, spending more time together. Alone, together. It was hanging out. Friends hang out.

So far, they had had lunch together every day that week (Chandler had even rearranged his schedule at work one day to have a late afternoon lunch with her), and they had hung out every night after work as well, usually staying up together after everyone else had gone to bed. So far, no one had questioned their new-found "friendship," maybe because the relationship-focus of the group was currently on Ross and Emily, who seemed to be moving right along in their relationship, mostly because the long-distance (really long distance) aspect was forcing them to either move forward or break up.

"Hey, you." Rachel smiled at the sound of his voice and the feeling of his hand on her back as he placed a soft kiss on the top of her head. They had been careful not to completely cross the friendship-relationship line again, but had no problem toeing it.

"You're late, mister," Rachel pointed to her watch.

"I know, sorry, stupid meeting ran late," Chandler apologized, kissing her again. "I'm gonna grab some food quick," he motioned to the counter, and she nodded, watching him walk away. Rachel sighed, wondering how long they were going to play this game. Not that it was a bad game, but she much preferred the game where there was much more…action, one might say. "So," Chandler said as he walked back to the table, holding a sandwich and bottle of water, "how much longer do I have you?"

"About 15 minutes," Rachel replied, frowning at her watch.

"Sorry," Chandler apologized again, setting his food on the table as he sat beside her instead of across from her. "How's your day going other than me being super late?"

"Well," Rachel smiled, nodding as she answered, "my day started off by having to help a 70-something-year-old lady pick out lingerie. So," Rachel shuddered, and Chandler laughed out loud, "I'll never look at anything black and lacy the same again."

"Well, at least your boss doesn't slap your ass on a daily basis," Chandler offered, but Rachel shook her head.

"I don't think so. You can't win at the 'I have the worst job' game. I've had terrible job after terrible job, in customer service, for the last few years. You get to, what sit up in your office playing solitaire for 90 percent of your day, tell people what to do for another 9 percent, and then do maybe one tiny bit of work?"

"Well, I prefer tetris to solitaire, and it might only take up about 80 percent of my time, but," he sighed, nodding, "other than that, pretty much how I spend my day. But, that's pretty much why I can't leave a job I hate. They pay me too much for doing too little. I can't make myself find a different job I would actually like," he paused, thinking, "or even figure out what a job I would actually like would entail."

"I guess I have you beat there," Rachel grinned. "See, I had a shopping addiction. Now, I get paid to shop! Of course, the less glamorous days include clients like my sexy grandma, but, overall, I just pick out pretty outfits for rich people who buy whatever I say looks good. But, it's not like I want to be doing this for like, thirty more years or anything…"

"Yea, no kidding. Hey, I'm 28-years-old and still don't know what I want to be when I grow up."

Rachel grinned, "Are you ever going to grow up."

"Eh, probably not…"

"Oh!" Rachel grabbed his arm excitedly, setting down her fork. "Are you not eating, by the way?" she asked, motioning to the sandwich he had yet to touch.

"I was gonna eat after you leave, since you're leaving soon," Chandler smiled shyly, causing Rachel's heart to melt a little more.

"Oh," she smiled, touched. "Well, anyway, you should come in sometime while I work! I could dress you up!"

Chandler looked down at his suit. "What's wrong with how I dress?"

"Nothing," Rachel patted his arm. "Well, at least not anymore, a few years ago you could have used a little help. But, you should come in! I'll make you look all sexy."

"Even sexier than now?"

"Hard to believe, right?" Rachel laughed, suddenly realizing they were holding hands on top of the table. How did that keep happening without her meaning for it to happen?

"Okay," he squeezed her hand. "So, when you say you're going to dress me, do you mean, like, literally, or…?"

"Chandler," she playfully swatted him with her free hand. "Anyway, I don't think Mr. Waltham would appreciate that very much," she added with a slight grin. "Speaking of which, I need to go!" she looked down at her watch. Chandler nodded, squeezing her hand again before letting go.

"I'll walk with you?"

"No, it's fine. Stay and eat," she smiled reassuringly as she grabbed her purse and jacket. Struggling to decide how to say goodbye, she finally decided on a kiss on the cheek. However, he turned his head at the same moment she leaned in, so the kiss on the cheek actually landed square on his mouth. And, her hand had once again somehow found its way into his, damnit. "I'll see-I'll see you later," Rachel sputtered out, heart racing as she squeezed his hand once more.

"See you later," Chandler whispered, the chaos of the Broadway Street deli seeming to stop as his entire world focused in on Rachel. He hadn't intended to kiss her, either. The hand-holding, yes. Kissing, no. Watching her walk out the door, he sighed. This toeing the line thing wasn't getting any easier as time went by. And, it had only been a week.

What a torturously wonderful week.

~.~

"So, what ever happened to that Josh guy?" Phoebe asked, sitting on the orange couch in Central Perk next to Rachel. Rachel glanced at Chandler out of the corner of her eye, noticing he looked rather amused at the question.

"Oh, ya know," Rachel shrugged, taking a sudden interest in the car magazine on the coffee table. "He just got divorced, not really looking for anyone right now."

"You sure you're not just too afraid to ask _Joshua_ out?" Monica asked as she sat down as well.

Rachel shook her head fiercely. "No, just decided I wasn't interested anymore."

"Rach, when he left his wallet at the store, you took his drivers license and your drivers license and held them together making little kissy noises. You just go from that, to not interested?" Monica asked, not convinced.

"Yea, thanks for keeping that story between us by the way," Rachel glared at Monica, who smiled in apology. "And, yea, I dunno, it was just a crush," Rachel shrugged. "I'm over it."

"Oh! How did you get over it? Does he have some weird secret you found out about?" Phoebe leaned forward. "Did you meet some other rich guy you get to dress up like a Ken doll? Oh, you just have the best job!"

"No, nothing like that," Rachel continued, now flipping through the car magazine. "It was just a crush. Just went away. No new man."

"Yea, uh-huh, spill, Rachel Karen Green," Phoebe ripped the magazine from her hands. "Unless your newfound interest in cars is real."

"There is nothing to spill! There is no new guy!"

"Right, and you're a really good liar, too," Monica agreed with Phoebe.

Rachel turned to Chandler for help, but he just smiled, waiting to see what her explanation to the girls would be. "There is no new guy," she huffed, grabbing her magazine back. "And I just…like looking at the pictures of the shiny cars."

"Right, well, if you're not gonna spill, we actually need to leave," Phoebe stood up. "Monica and I are going to see a movie, and if you weren't a big fat liar, you could come, too. Chandler, want to come?" Phoebe looked at him, but he shook his head. "Right, well, Rach, if you change your mind and want to spill, you can join us," Phoebe added as she and Monica left, both waving goodbye.

"Thanks a lot," Rachel glared at Chandler, who was laughing beside her.

"What? What was I supposed to do?" Chandler looked at her, amused.

"Oh, I don't know, be Chandler? Tell a joke?"

"I don't just tell jokes on command," Chandler explained. "Jokes are more of an art form than that."

"Really?"

"No, but I don't know what joke I could have made that would have distracted from the fact that you, Rachel Green, are a terrible liar," Chandler explained, putting his arm across the back of the couch, technically around her.

Rachel frowned, looking down. "You suck at lying too, ya know."

"Yea, I know," Chandler agreed with a sigh. "I know."

~.~

"Hey," Rachel smiled when she opened the door to the guys' apartment to find Chandler sitting on the yellow couch, apparently alone.

"Hey," he smiled in reply as she crossed the room to sit next to him.

"Whatcha doing?"

"Paying bills," he explained, writing out a check.

"Exciting," Rachel said, monotone, leaning up against him on the couch. "Holy crap, that's how much you pay for rent?" she asked, looking at the check in his hand. "But your apartment is so much smaller than ours! I should know, I live there right now!"

"Yes, but Monica pays half of your rent, no?"

"Right," Rachel nodded. "So you always pay all of your rent?"

"Only on months I would like to not get evicted," he smiled, leaning back as he set the checkbook down on the table. "Well, Joey helps out when he can. If he gets a really good job, he'll do something like pay the rent in advance for a few months or something," he explained, wrapping his arm around her to pull her closer.

"You're a good guy, you know that?" Rachel said sincerely, rubbing his leg.

"Yea, I try," he nodded with a sigh. "Right about now, I really wish I was less of a good guy, though," he spoke softly as she ran her hand slowly up and down his leg. He should get some sort of medal for being such a good guy.

"Me, too," Rachel agreed, staring into his eyes as she tried to decide if kissing him would be a good or bad thing. Good thing, bad idea. But, really, why would it be such a bad idea? What claim did Ross have over her? Why couldn't she and Chandler like each other without it being complicated? Why-

"What's the difference between British and English?" Joey asked, suddenly bursting through the door as Chandler and Rachel jumped apart. "I'm so confused!" he exclaimed sitting down between them. "British people speak English, right? But Americans speak English, too. But we're not English, are we?" he looked back and forth between Rachel and Chandler, oblivious to what he just interrupted.

Chandler laughed out loud, not sure whether or not it was a good thing they got interrupted. "Why don't you just go ask Emily?" he patted Joey on the back as he stood up.

"Well, I think she already thinks I'm not the brightest light in the bulb, if you know what I mean…"

"Why does she think that, Joe?" Rachel asked as Chandler walked over to the refrigerator.

"Well, I asked why they stole the name 'football' instead of just calling it soccer like us, and just call real football, football, and she just looked at me like I was crazy," Joey explained.

"Joey, soccer is real football," Chandler explained, handing a beer to Joey and Rachel before sitting down with his own, this time next to Rachel instead of Joey.

"Right," Joey laughed, thinking that Chandler was kidding. "So, about the whole British/English thing?"

to be continued…

~.~

_Review, please! Yes, you, all of you non-reviewers of summer! This summer, percentage-wise of hits to reviews, I'm only getting about a third (or less) the amount of reviews as I did before summer. So, either I suck more than a few months ago, or all of you summer readers are lazy. I'm gonna go with the latter, because I makes me feel better about myself, haha. Anyway, seriously, if you're reading this and don't hate me for writing Randler, leave a little review. It's really hard for me to write a non-Mondler fic, so feedback is nice and very much appreciated :)_

_And, now that I feel just a little bit pathetic, I'm gonna go ahead and go now :)  
_


	5. These Seconds When I’m Shaking

Phase Three

Chapter 5: These Seconds When I'm Shaking Leave Me Shuddering for Days

~.~

"Okay," Rachel sighed, sitting down at one of the barstools beside the foosball table with a plate of pancakes. "I know you guys are excited about this whole free porn thing, but do we seriously have to watch it while we eat?"

"Really, guys, this is getting ridiculous," Monica agreed, sitting beside her. "We can't just turn it off for a while? You guys have been watching this for almost 24 hours straight."

"We can't turn it off," Joey explained. "We don't know how it started, so we don't know what will make it go away."

"I know what would make it go away," Monica grabbed the remote from Joey's lap.

"No-no-no!" both guys grabbed for the remote at the same time.

"I was just muting it so we can eat in peace," Monica explained, hitting the mute button.

"We still have porn," Chandler nodded to the screen.

"Okay, mute is allowed. And maybe necessary. It was pretty hard to sleep last night through all of the moaning," Joey laughed. "Hey, Chandler, is that what it's like living with me?"

Chandler shook his head, standing up to help himself to some of the food. "Oh, that and more, Joe."

"Awesome," Joey grinned, still watching the screen intently.

"Ya know what? I can't take this anymore," Monica stood up, leaving her plate behind. "I can't watch porn and eat breakfast at the same time."

"Definitely," Rachel stood up as well. Chandler gave her a pouty look after Monica left the room, but she shook her head, not about to stay while the porn was on. "Girls can only take so much."

"Oh, that's not what the girl in the last movie said," Joey pointed to the screen with a laugh, causing Rachel to shake her head as she left.

"See you horny boys later," she yelled behind her as she walked out the door.

"Dude, how can there be too much porn?" Joey asked, picking up both of the girls' leftovers and sliding them onto his own plate. "Don't you have to go to work?" he asked, mouth full, as he noticed the time.

"Joe, it's Saturday."

"It's Saturday?!" Joey dropped his fork. "I'm shooting a commercial…two minutes ago!" he ran to the door, but turned around, grabbing the plate and taking it with him, shoving a pancake into his mouth as he left.

~.~

"You alone?" Rachel asked Chandler as she walked into his apartment, to find him still sitting in front of the muted tv, though he was now more reading a newspaper than he was watching the porn.

"Yea, just me. Joey's shooting a commercial today," he grinned, setting the paper down.

"Monica's working all day, too," she slowly crossed the kitchen to where he was, sitting on the arm of the chair. "What should we do all day, alone?"

Chandler looked up at her, not sure if she was suggesting what he thought she was suggesting, or if his thoughts were being interfered with by all of the porn-watching. He swallowed slowly as she moved from the arm of the chair to actually sitting on top of him. Maybe they had both been watching too much porn. Combined with all of the flirting lately, it was definitely a lethal combination with only one likely outcome. An outcome he wasn't about to object to. So, when Rachel placed one hand on his chest, he decided he didn't really care about any of the reasons they'd been telling themselves for not doing what they really wanted to be doing, grasping both of her arms in his hands as he kissed her. Rachel slowly moved so she was facing him, straddling him, as they continued to kiss.

"God, you're wearing a skirt," he mumbled, pushing it up farther as she grabbed for the button on his pants. "We should _not_ be left alone together after watching porn for over 24 hours," he added, wrapping his arms tightly around her, digging his fingertips into her back.

"We should-bedroom?"

"Balcony? Roof? Bank vault?" Chandler joked. "I've been watching porn for the last two days. They last place I want sex is a bedroom."

Rachel just laughed before kissing him again.

"They replaced me!" Joey's voice broke Rachel and Chandler apart, though Rachel was still sitting on top of him. They were both suddenly thankful nothing more than kissing had happened yet, and they were both fully dressed. "Dude, what are you guys doing?" he looked back and forth between them.

"Well, um, we, um, Rachel bet me twenty dollars that one of those positions they were having sex in, in the porn, wasn't really possible, and, um, I was just attempting to prove her wrong," Chandler sputtered out, hoping that Joey would believe that, since he didn't even believe himself. Rachel glanced at him for a moment, also thinking how unconvincing the lie was, before looking back to Joey.

Joey just laughed. "Right, well, make sure you stretch nice and good before you try any of those positions. They can be pretty tricky," he nodded. "Take it from a guy who has a lot of sex," he added, heading towards his bedroom.

"God, did he really just buy that?" Rachel whispered, laughing under her breath as she moved so that she was facing forward, again sitting on the arm of the chair. "He really is lucky he's pretty."

"No kidding," Chandler laughed as well, pulling her back down, next to him in the chair.

"Hey…"

"Not doing anything wrong," Chandler looked at her. "Just watching some tv with you," he looked up, then back to her, then down at her hand, before glancing back to the tv. "Yea, maybe this isn't a good idea with the porn," he trailed off, her hand resting on his upper thigh, seeming to inch its way further up, though he couldn't be sure. Rachel hesitated, then moved back to the arm of the chair, still leaning against him, looking at him to decide if that was even a good idea, Joey being in the next room and all.

"So, what are you guys doing tonight?" Joey came back to the living room, causing Rachel to physically jump. "Wanna go to dinner or something? I know Phoebe said something about wanting to?"

"Yea, sure," Chandler nodded, still looking at Rachel, not Joey as Joe sat in the other chair.

"Ooh! This is a really good one!" Joey exclaimed, turning the sound back on to the tv.

Rachel felt Chandler tense up next to her at moaning coming from the tv, and she wondered if he was wanting the exact same thing she was at that moment. No, not wondering, knowing. Two weeks' worth of sexual tension was ridiculous. Really, they just needed to go get it over with. Watching the screen for a few more seconds, she realized she couldn't sit there next to him, watching what they were watching, not doing what they really wanted to be doing, especially with all of the flirting and touching but lack of any real action since that infamous drunken night.

"I gotta-I gotta go," Rachel finally stood up, hurrying to the door. "Come get me when we're going to dinner," she barely finished the sentence before the door closed behind her.

"What's her problem?" Joey asked, and Chandler just shrugged.

"Ya know what? I'm gonna go get some coffee," Chandler said, standing up as well. "Too much porn. I'll see ya later, Joe." Chandler sighed after walking out the door, about to walk over to Rachel's.

"Hey!" Phoebe walked up the stairs. Impeccable timing. "Did Joey ask you guys about dinner?" Chandler nodded. "Where were you heading now?"

"Oh, I, um, I was gonna run down and get some coffee. Just seeing if Rachel wanted to go, too," he choked out, completely caught off guard.

"Coffee sounds _great_!" Phoebe agreed enthusiastically. "Let's grab Rachel and go!"

Chandler again sighed as Phoebe walked towards the door. Coffee with Rachel and Phoebe was exactly what he wanted at that moment. Except, minus Phoebe, and minus the coffee. And minus a whole bunch of clothes as well.

Yep, coffee with Rachel and Phoebe was just what he needed.

However, if he couldn't have what he really needed, maybe he could head downstairs before the girls, go buy some cigarettes (oh, who was he kidding; he had a pack in his pocket), and smoke one or two or twelve before they got down there.

"Hey, Phoebs, wanna get Rachel and I'll meet you guys downstairs?" Chandler asked, not waiting for a reply before practically running down the stairs. Phoebe looked at him curiously, but just shrugged before going into Rachel's apartment.

Once down the stairs and outside, Chandler leaned against the wall with a sigh, pulling the pack of cigarettes from his pocket. He placed one between his lips, taking a deep drag after he lit it. Blowing the smoke out slowly, he closed his eyes.

If he wasn't going to be having any sex, at least he could have some nicotine…

~.~

_Thanks for the reviews for the last chapter! Keep it up :) _

_And bonus points if you can tell where I literally typed out the words "that's what she said" and was very tempted to leave them, haha :) I doubt anyone is going to play this game since no one did the last time. Btw, the chapter titles are all lyrics from _Anna Begins_ by Counting Crows—don't worry, knowing this doesn't give anything away :) Awesome song, though…Counting Crows songs just have the __**best**__ lyrics._


	6. She Can’t Stop Shaking

Phase Three

Chapter 6: She Can't Stop Shaking; I Can't Stop Touching Her

~.~

_I was gonna wait to post this, but…I have an uber-busy weekend coming up, what with an engagement party and all, so I thought I'd post it since it's written. And because I'm in a good mood today. Even after a super late night with the kids I nanny for last night. They went away to camp for a week, and came back as monster-children, lol. Okay, that's an exaggeration, and I still love them very much, but they are just completely out of control this week. Their mom even said so. Thank god their Aunt is in town to deal with them instead of me, ha!_

~.~

"Hey," Monica greeted Chandler, who was sitting alone in her apartment, watching tv when she walked in.

"Hey," he replied. "Joey has a date over, so," he trailed off, explaining his presence.

"This early?" Monica looked at her watch as she started putting away the groceries she brought home.

"Yea, well, it's Joey," Chandler shrugged, still staring at the tv screen.

"So, where's Rachel?" Monica asked, sounding almost accusatory.

"Why would I know where Rachel is?" Chandler tried to keep the panic out of his voice. It could actually be a completely innocent question. He's home; Rachel is not. Hey, where's Rachel?

"Oh, I don't know, because you guys are attached at the hip lately?" Monica finished putting away the food before walking over to the living room. Chandler looked at her like he didn't know what she was talking about. "Oh, come on," she smiled at him.

Chandler shrugged. "Well, she's at work still right now," he finally admitted. "And, I don't know, we just realized that, while both of us hang out with you a lot, the two of us never actually hang out, but we didn't really know why, so I guess maybe we started hanging out more after that," he finished, shrugging again. She would buy that response, right? It was the half-truth.

"Oh," Monica replied, sitting next to him on the loveseat. "Well, since the two of you are hanging out all the time, you both might kind of be ignoring someone else," she said softly, sounding almost jealous.

"Oh, sorry, Mon," Chandler replied, and he was suddenly uncomfortable with her attempting to cuddle with him. He wasn't sure if he should put his arm around her or not, suddenly feeling like what was nothing out of the ordinary for the two of them would almost be…

He felt like that would almost be cheating on Rachel or something. His breath caught in his throat at that revelation.

"Are you okay?" Monica asked, concerned.

"Yea, I just…yea, no, I'm fine. Why?"

"You're just acting really weird," she looked at him, and off his look added, "weirder than usual."

"No, I'm fine," he shook his head, trying to sound a lot more fine than he actually felt. Monica continued to look at him, as if she didn't believe him.

"Hey, guess what?!" Phoebe came through the door, and Chandler sighed in relief, thankful for any kind of distraction.

"What, Phoebs?" he asked, still trying to sound convincingly fine. However, he didn't even listen to her (very likely, entertaining) response, his mind wandering.

~.~

Chandler lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. He hadn't seen Rachel all day, and it was killing him. They hadn't even kissed in four days, not since the porn-incident, but he had seen her the other three days, hung out with her, had all three meals with her each day. But today, he had meetings all day. And she got caught up at work. And then she had a late client. And then she had to go out with people from work because it was someone's last day. They hadn't even spoken all day. Just played a bunch of phone tag.

And, goddamnit, he missed her. He missed her a lot. That scared him. They weren't anything. They weren't dating. They were hardly even messing around. How could he miss her?

Closing his eyes, he tried to push those thoughts, those feelings away. He couldn't date her. He couldn't have any feelings towards her starting with the word "L," even just liking, let alone the other one. He couldn't sleep with her. He needed to stop flirting with her and kissing her and cuddling with her. He needed to just be her friend. Actual friend. Not dating without the title. Just. Friends.

Hearing the door open and close, Chandler didn't flinch, knowing exactly who it was. A smile crept across his face as he felt her get into bed beside him, all of those thoughts vanishing as she cuddled up from behind him.

"I missed you today," he whispered away from her.

"God, me, too," she nodded against his back. "This is bad, huh?" she asked as he turned to face her. "I mean, this isn't going away. This is like…something. I mean, we're like…something…

"I know," Chandler sighed. "I just, I still feel like, if something happens, really happens here, I'm like, betraying Ross somehow. And I just, I don't want that."

"Ya know what?" Rachel pulled away, suddenly angry. "If nothing is _ever_ actually going to happen with us, I'm just gonna go right now and make it that much easier," she turned to leave, but Chandler jumped up after her, grabbing her arm.

"Please don't go," he whispered, almost pleading. "Stay. Stay all night…"

She looked at him for a moment, weighing what she wanted to do versus what she probably should do. It still seemed like things would be messy between them if they were together. It still seemed like Ross would flip out. But what did she care what Ross thought? Ross had Emily. She was doing nothing wrong by wanting to be with Chandler. Although the guys would swear that he was breaking some silent guy code since she was Ross's ex, she really couldn't see what Chandler was doing wrong, either. They were two single adults who wanted to be together. What harm was there in that? How did that break any rules?

"But what will I sleep in," she finally whispered, hiding her grin.

"Hmm," he thought for a moment, fighting back his grin as well as he took off his tshirt. He then pointed to her suit, first pushing the jacket off her shoulders to the floor. Then, he slowly started unbuttoning her shirt, trying to steady his breathing as well as stop himself from saying fuck the buttons and just ripping it off of her in one swift movement. He was also half tempted to try that move just to see if he could pull it off. Joey could probably pull it off.

"What are you-what are we doing?" Rachel said through shaky breaths. "Ch-Chandler?"

"If you want me to stop, tell me to stop," he whispered, now pushing the shirt off her shoulders as well, planting small kisses along her collarbone.

"I don't-I don't think I can do that," she said, suddenly very aware of the fact that he was only in boxers. "I don't think I want to." Chandler smiled, pulling her close as he finally kissed her. One of those slow, infuriating kisses that completely buckled her knees so that she was clinging to him for support. "God, your kisses piss me off in the best way possible," Rachel laughed slightly, pulling back so she could look him in the eye.

"See, I would ask if that's a good thing or not, since it doesn't really make sense, but," he paused, kissing her again. Another slow, long, infuriating kiss. "God, you're right. Kissing you pisses me off in the best way possible…"

"Well, then we'll just have to see what you can do that would make me completely _livid_ in the best way possible," Rachel grinned against his lips as he kissed her again, this time unbuttoning her pants before sliding them down. "Look at that, I'm all caught up with you," she said, referring to the fact that they were both in only their underwear.

"Oh. Well, that's all I wanted. You can go home now," he smiled, pulling away from her as he sat on the bed, still holding her hands in his.

"Is that so?" Rachel asked, and he shrugged, pulling her onto the bed on top of him as he lay down, kissing her again. However, it didn't go beyond kissing.

"Shit, why am I so nervous?" Chandler finally asked with a laugh.

"God, I know. We've done this before…although, there was quite a bit of alcohol involved that time…"

"Yea," he kissed her again, hand on the back of her head. "Ya know, maybe this isn't such a good idea," he trailed off, dropping his hand.

"What?!" Rachel looked at him, obviously quite angry as she started to pull away. "Chandler-"

"I was just kidding," he laughed, pulling her back towards him, but she still attempted to fight him, pulling away.

"You're an ass," she shook her head, but finally stopped fighting, letting him pull her down against him once again. "I think I can live with that, though," she mumbled, her heart beating fiercely when he moved to push down her underwear after taking off his own boxers. "About fucking time," she added, getting a laugh from Chandler between frantic kisses.

He couldn't agree more.

~.~

"Chandler," Rachel mumbled, looking at the clock, which read 5:35. "Chandler," she repeated, rolling over and placing her hand on his bare chest.

"Hm?"

"I need to go," she whispered, and he finally opened his eyes. "Chandler, don't look at me like that…"

"Sorry," he mumbled, pulling her closer as he kissed her. "I wish you didn't have to go…"

"Me, too," she sighed, but pulled away anyway. "I'll see you in a couple of hours, though," she said, getting out of bed as she began searching the floor for her clothes. She settled on the tshirt he had offered her earlier, as well as her own pants.

"You'd better hope Monica or Joey isn't up really early for some reason," Chandler laughed at the over-sized tshirt and dress pants. Rachel shrugged, sitting back down on the bed. Chandler moved closer, sitting up as well as he cupped her face in his hands, kissing her slowly. "Oh, don't go…just stay here. We'll lock the door and stay here all day. Screw the rest of them and what they think."

"Chandler," Rachel laughed, and he just sighed.

"Yea, I know," he kissed her once more, running his hand through her hair. "Bye..."

"Bye," she replied, kissing him again before standing up to leave. "See you in a bit," she added, walking out his bedroom door, flashing him one last grin as he watched her walk away.

~.~

Rachel sat next to Chandler on the couch in her apartment, watching a movie with Monica. Rachel was beside him on the couch, sitting entirely too close, and he was holding her hand under the blanket. She marveled at his ability to keep his composure, because every time he squeezed her hand, or ran his hand up her leg, she about lost it.

When Monica got up to go to the restroom, though, he was practically on top of her the second the bathroom door closed, kissing her hard, fingertips digging into her back as her hand found the back of her neck. But, the second the toilet flushed, he was back on his side of the couch. Rachel looked at him as Monica walked by, and while she was having a hard time just breathing, he was sitting there smirking.

God, how did he do that?

~.~

Rachel lay in bed, awake. They had come to an unspoken agreement, and every other night they switched off who did the sneaking to the other one's apartment at exactly 2:30 AM. She had gone to his place the night before, so it was his turn to come over tonight. And it was only 1:50. The late nights with no sleep were killing her, but it was very worth it. Although she could have (and probably should have) slept up until the point they met up every night, she never actually could. Her bed was too cold and missing about six-feet of Chandler.

Chandler snuck into Rachel and Monica's apartment, tip-toeing across his former living room on his way to Rachel's room. For some reason, getting caught by Monica seemed a lot scarier than getting caught by Joey. Maybe because he could lie through his teeth and Joey would buy it, whereas one look and Monica would know he was lying. And, really, what good lie could he tell that would explain his presence at 2:15 AM? He was 15 minutes early, but he just couldn't lay in his own bed alone any longer.

Opening Rachel's bedroom door, he smiled in victory. His smile widened when he saw her in bed, sleeping in his shirt. He crawled into bed with her, dropping his robe to the floor. He wrapped his arms around her, spooning her.

"Oh my god, you're not wearing any underwear," he whispered into her hair. She was wearing his shirt and nothing but his shirt. She jumped slightly at the sound of his voice; she must have fallen asleep after all.

"Yea, I might have been expecting someone," she smiled groggily, rolling over to face him.

"Oh, should I leave, then?" Chandler moved to get up, but Rachel just laughed, pulling him back down. "God, my bed sucks without you," he mumbled before kissing her.

"Yea, mine sucks without you, too," she agreed, settling into his arms, almost asleep again already.

"Night, Rach," Chandler whispered, kissing her hair as he closed his eyes as well.

"Mm, night," she whispered back. Chandler tightened his arms around her. He was okay with just sleeping together without sleeping together, although that wasn't what he had been expecting that night. And it seemed to be crossing a line even more to a relationship-ish place. He kissed her hair again, deciding that he needed to stop thinking and just go to sleep, trying hard to push away the thought that he had just had.

Maybe it was too late. Maybe they were already in that relationship-ish place.

And maybe…maybe, they were both okay with it.

~.~

_Thank you to the two participants of my "that's what she said" game, lol. I actually typed it out after Rachel said, "Girls can only take so much." Good for you for getting that, KMJ. I'm glad your mind is in the gutter, right along with mine, hehe :)_

_Thanks for the reviews/alert adds :) I really love writing this series. It's lots of fun :) I'm glad you guys are enjoying it as much as I am. Or are at least enjoying it. Review, please…I'll update as soon as I can :) _


	7. It Isn't Love

Phase Three

Chapter 7: It Isn't Love, If You Don't Want to Talk About it

~.~

Rachel practically ran into her apartment, glancing at her watch. 2 o'clock on the dot. Not late yet. Looking around, though, she realized that Chandler wasn't there yet, either. They'd agreed on 2, right? Just as she frowned at the clock on the stove, Chandler burst through the door, a grin immediately spreading across her face as he slammed the door behind him, rushing over to her. Wrapping his arms around her, he kissed her frantically on the lips before kissing her neck as well.

"Monica?" he finally said, and Rachel shook her head.

"Working lunch and dinner," she replied, moving his face back up for another kiss on the mouth. "Joey?"

"Auditions all day," he mumbled, again kissing his way down to her neck as they moved towards the kitchen table. "Phoebe?"

"Clients until 6," Rachel replied as she loosened his tie. "God, I wish I didn't have to go back to work…"

"You have to go back?" Chandler frowned, pulling back for a moment, "I took the rest of the afternoon off."

"Sorry," she apologized, kissing him again as she attempted to make it up to him.

"That just means we'll have to make the most of it," he smiled against her lips, lifting her hips up so that she was actually sitting on the table. Rachel undid his belt, quickly unfastening his pants as well. Chandler gasped when she pulled him forward by the tie, trying to get him to lean back on top of her.

"Maybe not," Rachel laughed. "We might break the table."

Chandler scoffed, "Uh, hasn't broke yet…"

Rachel just nodded, kissing him again as he ran his hands up her thighs, pushing her skirt up in the process. "Wait, what?" she pulled back. "Who else has had sex here?' Chandler just laughed, shaking his head as he tried to kiss her again. "No, seriously," she repeated. "Who has? Joey?" she asked expectantly, "Phoebe? Monica?"

Chandler again laughed. "Yes, yes, yes, and yes. You might just be the only one who hasn't."

"Right," Rachel scoffed, not believing him.

"Phoebe and some guy, not too long after she moved in. Ross and Carol. Monica and Fun Bobby. Joey and lord knows who, and," he paused.

"And…" Rachel tapped her finger on his chest. Chandler shrugged shyly. "You and…?"

"Well, we're about to make it you and me, so, let's not talk about that," he laughed, kissing her again, though this time with long, slow, infuriating kisses instead of the hurried kisses from before.

"Mmm, okay," Rachel mumbled against his lips as he lifted her slightly up off the table, sliding her panties down.

"And people say _I_ talk too much," Chandler laughed, but quickly stopped as she pushed his pants to the floor. He kicked them off, along with his shoes, as he moved completely between her legs, pressing himself up against her as her kisses became more intense. As she wrapped her legs completely around his body, he forgot that they hadn't even bothered to lock the front door. But, at that moment, Ross or God or Rachel's mom could walk through that door, and it probably wouldn't have stopped him for a second.

~.~

Chandler sat in the green chair beside the orange couch at Central Perk, reading the paper and tapping his foot to the song running through his head. He practically jumped when he reached for his coffee, seeing that Phoebe had been watching him for quite some time. She sat down beside him, almost on top of him, and he looked at her curiously.

"What's up, Phoebs?" he laughed, wondering why she was sitting next to him in the chair instead of on the couch.

"Oh, I was just seeing what all of the excitement of _this_ is about," she motioned to him, and he still looked at her like she was crazy.

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, Monica has been all cuddly with you for as long as I've known you. And Rachel seems to have jumped on that bandwagon lately as well," she explained. "So, I thought I would see why. But, this," she motioned between them, "doesn't work so much with us, does it?" Chandler squinted at her, still trying to figure her out. Did she know something was up with him and Rachel, or was Phoebe just being…Phoebe? "Yea, no, we don't have the right chemistry," she attempted to get up, but was having trouble. "Yea, I'm carrying a litter of babies, so I'm gonna need some help here…" Chandler laughed, helping her get up. "Oh, you," she patted him on the head before walking up to the counter to order. Chandler continued to stare after her, trying to figure out exactly what that was all about. He finally shrugged, going back to his newspaper and foot-tapping.

And, at that moment, Rachel walked in the door. And he thanked God and a taxi driver and New York City traffic for her not walking in thirty seconds earlier. Because when he saw her, and she saw him, he grinned in a way that warmed him to the very core of his being. And there is no way in hell Phoebe wouldn't have caught that if she had still been sitting beside him.

And, in that moment, both of them failed to notice Phoebe watching them from the counter, knowing smile on her face as her suspicions were even further confirmed.

~.~

"I've got something that's gonna make you happy," Rachel walked into the guys' apartment. Chandler looked up from where he was sitting at the foosball table, eating a sandwich and reading a magazine.

"Other than your presence?" Chandler smiled sweetly, and Rachel rolled her eyes, handing him the Knicks tickets from behind her back. "Holy shit, these are practically courtside," he looked at her in disbelief

"Yea, my mom got them from my dad in the divorce, and she gave them to me, so," Rachel shrugged, but looked at him like there was more.

"And…"

Rachel sighed. "And, Monica kinda told me to use them to bribe you guys to get our apartment back. You don't have to, though. You can have them anyway. Well, that might be hard to explain. You can unofficially have them, either way," Rachel frowned.

"You can have your apartment back," Chandler grinned, standing up and giving her a quick kiss. "I mean, I'll have to talk to Joey, but these could be the worst Knicks tickets in the world, and he would still be okay with it because it's the Knicks."

"You're the best," Rachel grinned, giving him another quick kiss.

"You just gave me season tickets for the Knicks. Pretty sure _you're_ actually the best," he wrapped his arms around her. "And, I'm not so sure this whole living arrangement is very legal…"

Rachel laughed, but pulled away from him quickly with the door opened. Monica walked in, raising her eyebrows at Rachel. Rachel nodded, and Monica grinned.

"I knew you boys would be easy to crack!" Monica pointed her finger at Chandler, who just shrugged, grabbing his tickets and heading to his room.

~.~

Rachel smiled, resting her head against Chandler's chest as she ran a hand through his sweaty hair. "You're the best, you know that?"

"I do what I can," he grinned in return, kissing the top of her head.

"No, seriously," she added, grinning as well. "You are the best. How did you get to be the best?"

Chandler laughed, holding a finger up as if to say to hold on for a second before getting out of bed.

"Hey," Rachel objected as he left her side, pulling boxers on as he went over to his dresser. Instead of staying put, she followed him, pulling on the tshirt he had been wearing earlier.

"You're impatient," he teased, digging through one of his drawers. "And, I'm pretty sure you are also the proud owner of a good three-fourths of my tshirts," he grinned, pulling a box out of one of the drawers.

"Is that a jewelry box?" Rachel laughed, moving closer.

"It might be," Chandler said defensively. "In my defense, my grandmother left it to me when she died, since I'm the only grandchild," he explained, pulling a small piece of paper out and handing it to Rachel. "It's probably worth some money, but I'd feel pretty bad selling any of it."

Rachel took the paper, literally laughing out loud. "Oh my god, I can't believe you kept this!" she continued to laugh, staring at the drawing that Monica had made for him when he was dating Kathy.

"It has been _very_ informative," Chandler nodded with a grin.

"Well, you, mister, are a very good student," Rachel smiled, wrapping her arm around his waist as she moved in to look at the rest of the contents of the box. "That's really pretty," she picked up a necklace from the jewelry box.

"Huh," he looked at the simple necklace she was holding, a thin chain with a single, small pearl in the middle, an also small diamond on each side. "It's not too…boring for you?" he asked, not really picturing it as something that would fit her tastes.

"No, it's simple. In a good way," she nodded, and he took it from her hands, moving to put it around her neck. "Chandler," she shook her head in protest.

"What? It's been sitting here for the past, like, ten years. For all I know it's not even worth anything. Might as well be worn," he put it around her neck, brushing her hair out of the way and planting a single kiss on the back of her bare neck that sent shivers up her spine.

Rachel smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Oh my god, I lo-"

Chandler cut her off, kissing her hard, to the point that he knocked her backwards, stumbling towards the bed. She couldn't say that word. They hadn't even discussed what they were. For all he knew, they were just messing around. They would still have lunch every day, hang out (though more with everyone else around since both Monica and Phoebe were acting suspicious), and then would sneak over to see each other in the middle of the night, some nights for sex, some to just sleep together.

Did that make it a relationship?

Even if it did, they hadn't talked about it. It seemed like an unspoken agreement not to. It wasn't complicated if they didn't speak about it. Kind of like, it wasn't dating unless they called it dating. It wasn't a relationship if they didn't call it a relationship. If they didn't say the L-word, they couldn't be feeling it. That would really make it too complicated.

Thank god for Ross being occupied with Emily lately. Even though Ross and Emily were getting serious, Chandler still couldn't move past the fact that Rachel had been Ross's Rachel for so many years. And he had not too long ago gotten out of a relationship that had begun by breaking Joey's trust; he didn't want to do that to Ross as well. He didn't want to see the look on Ross's face that he had seen on Joey's.

So, they didn't talk about it. And Chandler tried his best to avoid any alone time with Ross, too consumed with guilt that he, in all actuality, had no reason to be feeling.

Rachel pulled back slowly, out of breath from the kiss. Or from what she had just about said out loud. She hadn't even meant to; it had slipped. She didn't really feel that way, did she? It had only been a few weeks. They weren't even anything. They weren't together. They were just friends. Friends who really, really, really enjoyed each others' company.

Staring into his eyes, she realized his chest was rising and falling with the same intensity of her own. He leaned down to kiss her quickly on the lips, then the tip of the nose, then the forehead, before leaning his forehead against hers. Rachel wrapped her arms around him, his arms securely around her as well. She closed her eyes, not sure if she had freaked him or herself out more by almost saying those damned three little words.

God damn those three little words.

~.~

"Ugh, why did we move apartments the first time?" Rachel groaned, carrying a box back to her own apartment. "Oh, right, because you lost our apartment," she smiled at Monica.

"And then got it back!" Monica walked across the living room to her former bedroom, glad to have it back.

"No, Mon, I got it back," Rachel argued, walking back out the door for another box. She came back this time with Chandler, who was holding an even bigger box, following her into her room.

"Well, I wish I could help, but," Phoebe motioned to her very pregnant belly, sitting in one of the guys' chairs that had yet to be moved back to their apartment.

"God, these are really all shoes?" Chandler asked, practically dropping the box in Rachel's room. "How many pairs of shoes do you have?"

Rachel looked at the ground, mumbling.

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that?"

"I said, I have one hundred fifty-seven pairs of shoes," she admitted, to which Chandler's eyes became very wide. "And, I wear them all," she grabbed one from the box, tossing it playfully at him.

"Whatever," he shook his head in disbelief, tossing the shoe back into the box before heading back for more. Rachel watched him walk out, starting to put things away in her closet. "Hey, what's going on?" Chandler asked as he came out of Rachel's room, this time to find Ross, Emily, Joey, Phoebe, and Monica all gathered around.

"Ross was just about to tell us something big," Monica explained.

"Well, uh," Ross started off nervously, "Emily and I, we, um…we've decided to get married."

The other four in the room exchanged glances, not sure what the reaction should be to that.

"Oh! Are you pregnant, too?!" Phoebe finally asked, sounding excited about that possibility.

"No," Emily shook her head fiercely.

"We just decided to-to just, go for it," Ross explained with a nervous laugh.

"I mean, we know it's a bit hasty, but it just feels so right," Emily added, stopping when Rachel slowly came into the room, leaning against her doorframe. Ross slowly turned to face her, trying to gauge her reaction.

"Hey, we were just telling the guys that, that we…"

"No, yea, I heard," Rachel nodded, swallowing slowly, trying to decipher why she still had that sinking heart feeling at that news, why it stung her heart like a slap across the face. Ross getting married shouldn't sting like that, should it? Ross was getting married. Ross. Her ex, Ross. Her so-called lobster, Ross. She was no longer Ross's Rachel, so it shouldn't sting at all to hear that news. She had moved on as well. There was no reason for her heart to sink. No reason to sting so badly. She stared at Ross for a moment, trying to read his emotions, to see if his heart stung at all as well, before looking around the room. Her gaze was met with sympathetic stare after sympathetic stare, and Chandler didn't fail to notice she didn't make eye contact with him. "No, no, it's-it's great," she finally nodded, forcing a smile as she moved to hug Ross. "I'm so happy for you!"

Monica, Phoebe and Joey exchanged another glance before shrugging, deciding that if Rachel could be okay with it, so should they.

"Congratulations!" They all stepped forward at the same time. Chandler looked at Rachel for a moment, who was now looking down, before deciding to congratulate Ross as well.

"Ooh, ooh, we should all go out to celebrate!" Phoebe jumped up and down, as best she could for being so pregnant. When the others agreed, she quickly shuffled them out, leaving Chandler and Rachel alone. Phoebe gave Rachel a sympathetic smile before closing the door behind her. Chandler looked after them for a moment, wondering if Phoebe really did know what was going on between him and Rachel.

Chandler stared at Rachel for a moment from across the room. She was biting her bottom lip, holding back tears. Both of them had yet to make even a small movement.

"You're, uh, you're not completely over him, are you?" Chandler whispered, watching her. Rachel shrugged. "Can you tell me, honestly, that you are?" he was still whispering, trying to keep his voice steady. Rachel shook her head slowly, looking down to avoid seeing the hurt she knew that simple action had caused. "Then what the hell are we doing?" Chandler snapped. "What is this?" he motioned between them.

"I don't know, okay?" Rachel finally spoke. "I didn't know I wasn't over him," she defended herself. "But, seeing them, and knowing they're getting married, it's just," Rachel shook her head. "I didn't expect him to move on so fast!"

"But you can," Chandler shot back. "Or did you not mean what you almost said last night?"

"Chandler-"

"No, Rachel, what is this?"

"I don't know!" she finally yelled, just as frustrated with herself as he was. "I don't know…"

"Well, at least we're not really anything, right? At least we're just friends," Chandler angrily spit out.

"Right. We're just friends," Rachel laughed sarcastically. "There's nothing here," she dropped her hands. "Maybe you're right. Maybe I'm not over Ross at all. Maybe this is just a rebound thing, and you were right across the hall, so you were just the most convenient person for it to happen with!"

"Well, maybe you're just a rebound thing from Kathy, too," Chandler shot back.

"Yea, you just tell yourself that."

"Oh, I don't have to. You're telling me everything I need to know," Chandler shook his head, looking down. "I don't know why I ever thought this was anything less than a catastrophically bad idea. I don't know why I let myself get so attached to you," he laughed. "I mean, you're Rachel. Princess Rachel. You get everything you want because you're a spoiled brat, and you can just walk all over me, because I'm beneath you."

"The only reason you're not good enough for someone is because that's what you think of yourself," Rachel interjected. "And if you're not just the pot calling the kettle black with the spoiled thing. I'm sorry, aren't your parents both successful at what they do and not so down-on-their luck themselves? Poor, spoiled rich kid, your parents sent you to the best schools on the East Coast and gave you everything you could ask for, but we should pity you because they were divorced, and your dad's gay. Grow up, Chandler," Rachel spit out.

"Fuck you!"

"Yea, right back at you," Rachel nodded. "Good thing we're not together. That means we don't have to break up."

"Perfect," Chandler nodded, turning to leave before the fight went any farther. After slamming both her door and his own, he leaned back against it, closing his eyes as he forced himself to swallow the knot in his throat. He stood up, hesitating as he again reached for the doorknob. Thinking better of it, though, he shook his head, punching the door before walking away. He held his fist, immediately regretting the action, but glad that he had pain to focus on other than the searing pain in his heart.

How had he ever thought this was anything less than a catastrophically bad idea?

And, if it wasn't a break up, why the hell did he feel so broken?

~.~

_I've been working on this chapter for weeks. Mainly because this fight wasn't supposed to happen for another couple of chapters, but when I wrote this, it just kinda happened. And, no matter what I do, I can't make it work the way I originally intended it to work, so I'm leaving it as is, and I'll just have to deal with it and re-work the next couple of chapters, I suppose. So, it might take a bit longer to post. Expect another part of _I'll Be There For You_ before this one, probably._

_I also feel like defending Rachel's feelings here, because I feel like people are going to attack me for her actions at Ross's engagement. I would have to say, from experience, that there is nothing like an ex moving on (even if you have as well) to make any old feelings resurface. Facebook messages from my ex after my engagement, I would have to say, pretty much confirm this isn't just me feeling this way, ha.  
_

_Anyway, thanks so much for the reviews for the last chapter! Keep it up :) _


	8. I'm Not Ready for This Sort of Thing

Phase Three

Chapter 8: Not Ready for This Sort of Thing

~.~

_I gotta say, you guys are amazing me with the reviews for this! I had resigned myself to getting the, like, 3 or 4 reviews per chapter that I got after my first two updates, since this is Randler, and most people seem to be either hardcore Mondler or R/R fans, but…wow! I never expected to get as many reviews as I did for the last two chapters! I'm glad you guys are enjoying this :)_

~.~

"Hey, Rach," Rachel looked up at the sound of Ross's voice. She was sitting in the coffee house alone, reading a magazine and sipping a cup of tea. "Hey, can we, uh, can we talk?"

"Sure, Ross, but are you breaking up with me again? Because I think it's pretty clear that we are, in fact over," she smiled at him, and he forced an awkward laugh as he sat down beside her.

"Look, I know this is all just, really, really sudden, this whole, me getting married thing, and I just, uh, I just wanted to make sure that you're okay. You know, _really_ okay," he paused, looking at Rachel, who was doing her best to keep a neutral face. "Because, you know, if the situation were reversed, and you were getting married soon, I, uh, I know that would be weird for me…"

"Yea, it is a little weird," Rachel admitted softly. "I am happy for you, though. Because I do want you to be happy," she added genuinely, patting him on the leg.

"I know. I want you to be happy, too. That's why I wanted to make sure that you're okay."

Rachel nodded, thinking for a moment. "I will be," she finally answered, smiling sincerely. "I will be…"

"Okay, good," Ross smiled. "Good. And, I also wanted to give you a heads up that…you are invited. You know that, right? You might be my ex-girlfriend, but you're also one of my very best friends, and I, uh, I really hope you come. I really want you there," he explained, and Rachel just nodded. "I mean, I understand if you don't want to be. But it would mean a lot to me if you did." Rachel again nodded. "Okay, well, um, I'm gonna go now. I have some calls to make. And I need to make sure Monica picked up Emily's dress today. Helping with some of the wedding planning from a completely different country is hard," Ross laughed, and again got nothing but a nod in return. "You sure you're okay?"

Rachel forced a smile. "I will be. Go. Plan," she rubbed his arm.

"Okay. Well, I'll see you later, Rach," Ross returned her smile before walking towards the door. She watched him walk out the door, and then saw him run into Chandler outside. They chatted for a couple of seconds before Ross walked away, but once Chandler looked inside and saw that she was the only one there, he hesitated before walking away.

Rachel just sighed, closing her eyes. If he was going to be immature and avoid her, there was nothing she could do about it. And he had been avoiding her since their fight. But, when they were all together, he would act normally towards her. As if nothing had ever happened. Which killed her. Did he not feel the same way she had? There was no way he couldn't have. No, he could pretend it didn't happen all he wanted, but it did happen. They did happen. Which was obvious by him avoiding her.

Monica, who had asked about them spending so much time together at the beginning, didn't seem to notice when that time together suddenly stopped. Maybe because of her obsession with wedding planning and her brother getting married. Or maybe because both of them had gone back to spending time with her, so she didn't care. Either way, she never questioned what had happened. Or else just failed to notice.

Phoebe, on the other hand, kept giving Rachel sympathetic looks, like her dog just died, every time she saw her. She had yet to talk to her about anything, so she couldn't be certain that Phoebe even noticed the thing with Chandler, or if she was just aware of any lingering feelings she had for Ross. Either way, she tried hard to avoid Phoebe, not wanting to talk about either.

Rachel sighed, picking up her tea, and suddenly wishing it was some form of alcohol instead. She was glad that she'd had the excuse of Ross getting married to be upset for the past few weeks. Because, truth was, while she _was_ a little bit upset about Ross getting married, she was also very upset over losing Chandler so suddenly. She had just been so taken back by Ross and Emily's hasty wedding plans. It was hard. While there might have still been a small part of her that loved Ross, that part of your heart that a serious ex will claim forever and ever, she really had felt something for Chandler.

But if he was going to be his immature self and avoid her, maybe she didn't need him, anyway. She'd done the overly jealous, insecure boyfriend thing with Ross; she really didn't need to do it again with Chandler.

~.~

Monica looked at Rachel, who was still staring at Ross's wedding invitation in her hand. She knew the inner turmoil Ross had gone through, as well as the argument that had ensued with Emily over whether or not to invite Rachel. "You're really not gonna go?" Monica asked softly, placing a hand on Rachel's shoulder. Rachel sighed, shaking her head as she set the invitation down on the kitchen table.

"I don't know," Rachel continued shaking her head. "I mean, it's just all so fast. Maybe, if it was a couple of years down the road, ya know?" Rachel asked rhetorically, pulling the chair out to sit in. "But, even then, I just don't know. I mean, it's Ross. _Ross_," she sighed. "I just, I don't know if I can watch him get married. I mean…okay, your family is friends with Richard's family, right? Say he's getting married, and you're invited. Can you go watch that? Whether it's tomorrow, or ten years from now?" Rachel asked, practically begging for confirmation that she wasn't crazy for not wanting to go.

Monica bit her thumbnail, thinking it over for a moment. "I-I don't know, sweetie," Monica nodded slowly, understanding her point. "No, probably not."

Rachel again sighed heavily. "I mean, it's not like I still love him. It's not like I want to be with him. I just," Rachel trailed off, taking a deep, shaky breath. "I just don't think I can watch him marry someone else."

"It's still gonna be weird going to London without you," Monica said softly, placing a hand on Rachel's back.

"I know. It's gonna be weird not going. But, hey, someone has to stay here and take care of Phoebe! Ya know, make sure she doesn't pop any of those babies out before you guys get back!"

"Right," Monica nodded. "Well, it's still going to be weird without you. And Phoebe. You're kinda leaving me alone with the guys."

Rachel just laughed, "Good luck with that, by the way."

"Thanks," Monica laughed as well. "You gonna be okay?"

"Yea, I am," Rachel smiled sincerely, and Monica gave her a sympathetic smile before leaving the room, heading into her bedroom. Rachel exhaled slowly, glancing back at the invitation on the table. She picked the pen up, moving it back and forth between the "attending" and "not attending" boxes. 'Eeny, meeny, miny, mo,' she thought, moving the pen back and forth. "Right," she whispered out loud, "That's the best way to make this decision…"

~.~

Rachel sighed as she entered the coffee house, noticing that Chandler was the only one sitting on the couch. He didn't look up, so she took the opportunity to talk to him He didn't see her, so he wouldn't have the opportunity to run. When she sat down in the green chair, he looked up, forcing a half-smile as she leaned in towards him.

"Hey," he finally whispered, setting down his drink.

"Hey," Rachel replied, taking a deep breath, trying to decide what needed to be said.

"I'm sorry," Chandler interrupted her. "I'm just, I-I'm sorry…"

"Me, too," Rachel nodded. "I just didn't want you guys to leave for London without talking to you. I-"

"You're not going?" Chandler interrupted her.

"Well, no…"

"So, you're _not_ over Ross," he stated. "I thought you came to apologize and tell me I was wrong about that," he looked at her, and when she didn't reply, he laughed out loud. "Right. Of course. So, what, did you come talk to me to let me down easy, or what?"

"You know what, Chandler?" Rachel replied harshly, "I did come to talk to you, and to apologize, but not for that. But, god, _this_ is why you're not in a relationship," she stood up angrily. "You play the role of insecure asshole _perfectly_."

"Well, I'm still waiting for that one relationship that proves my insecurities wrong," Chandler shot back. "But it hasn't happened yet. And it seems like I'm always someone's second choice. Always the understudy for the leading man. Just around until something can happen with the guy who's, for some reason or another, better than me!"

"And that, right there, is why," Rachel said slowly. "You know what, I don't have time for this," she turned to leave. "Have fun in London."

~.~

_Sorry about making Chandler such an asshole, haha. But, his relationship with Kathy ended right before this, and that was kinda because he was an insecure asshole, too, so…(yes, I know she cheated on him, but he was an insecure asshole right before that)._

_This chapter isn't the best, but it's getting us to where we need to go. I'm pretty excited for the next few chapters, though. I'm working on the next one, and hope to have it up sometime next week, despite school starting Monday (booooooo!). So, review, and I'll post the next part as soon as I can!!! I think I'm going to set the goal of having this series done by my birthday (mid-October), but we're moving to a new apartment in a month-ish, so…we shall see. I do, however, swear to you with everything that I am, that I will finish this series! It will not become another unfinished Randler series, promise! There are too many of those as it is…_


	9. The Things You Try to Tell Yourself

Phase Three

Chapter 9: The Things You Try to Tell Yourself

~.~

"The guy was hammered, okay?" Chandler said, attempting to console Monica at Ross's rehearsal dinner after a drunken guest had mistaken the two of them for Ross's parents. "There is no way you look like Ross's mother!"

"Then why would he say it?" Monica shot back defensively, downing her glass of wine.

"Because he's crazy, okay? Earlier, he came up and thanked me for my very moving performance in _Titanic_!"

"Oh, my mother's right," Monica sighed dejectedly. "I'm never going to get married."

Chandler touched her shoulder, still trying to console her. "That's…come on, who wouldn't want you?"

"Oh, please! I'm a single mom, with a thirty-year-old son!"

Chandler sighed, not sure how to reply to that. "Wanna get out of here?"

"Sure, but first," Monica paused, grabbing two drinks from the waiter who was walking by, "we're taking advantage of the open bar."

"Aren't your parents paying for all of this?" Chandler asked, taking the drink she had offered.

Monica nodded, "Exactly." She downed her drink, heading up to the bar for another. Chandler paused momentarily, shrugging before following close behind.

~.~

"So, Rach, _why_ didn't you go to the wedding?" Phoebe asked, sitting across the kitchen table from Rachel.

"Because it's _Ross_. It would be weird," Rachel explained, flipping through a magazine entirely too quickly to actually be reading it.

Phoebe smirked at her. "You love him, don't you?"

"Ross?" Rachel laughed. "I mean, I still have those lingering, I-loved-you-once feelings for Ross, but," she shook her head. "I'm not _in_ _love_ with Ross."

"I wasn't talking about Ross," Phoebe continued, and Rachel stared at her in disbelief. "Oh, come on, Rachel…"

"I don't know," Rachel whispered.

"Well, then why aren't you over there with him? Why did you stay here?" Phoebe asked. "If anything, you just fully convinced Chandler that you are very much still in love with Ross, and not at all with him."

"I know," Rachel nodded, tears in her eyes. "It's just so complicated…"

"Why, why is it complicated?" Phoebe cut her off. "Ross is getting married. Married! He loves Emily. You love Chandler, not him. Chandler loves you-"

"You think Chandler loves me?" Rachel wiped at her eyes.

"Yes! It couldn't be more obvious!" Phoebe exclaimed. "But it's Chandler! You can't expect him to fix things when he screws up and make things work on his own! You have to hold his hand and walk him through it. You can't just let him go off to another country while he's still pouting over you-"

"He's pouting over me?"

"Did you just meet Chandler?" Phoebe looked at Rachel in disbelief. "Okay, I know it's _Chandler_, but, come on, I've been watching you guys for the past couple of months. Are you really just gonna let him go? Just like that?"

Rachel thought for a moment. Maybe Phoebe was right. Was she being just as immature as Chandler by not dealing with whatever they were, and just giving up on what could be something great? It was Chandler, and this was how Chandler acted, and she knew that going into it. She had just never thought about all of his relationship issues since the whole Ross issue seemed to be the biggest complication in their relationship or whatever the hell they were. But was it not worth trying? Was she just going to let it be over?

"No," Rachel finally said softly. "No," she repeated firmer, standing up. "Well, that settles it. I'm going to London. If nothing else, it'll be really good closure, right?"

"Right! Good for you!" Phoebe cheered her on.

"Oh my god, am I even going to make it?" she looked at the time. "What time is it over there? God I hope I can get a flight!" she ran into her room to pack, coming out minutes later pulling her suitcase, passport in hand. "I'm gonna do it!" she grinned. "I'm gonna prove I'm over Ross, and I'm going to apologize to Chandler and tell him-tell him I love him!"

"Go, go!" Phoebe motioned to the door. "And have fun! Oh, and bring me something! Oh, and take lots of pictures for me!" she yelled after Rachel as she walked out the door. "All in a day's work," Phoebe smiled, quite pleased with herself.

~.~

"Well," Monica said, stumbling into Chandler and Joey's hotel room with Chandler, her arm linked through his. "We sure showed them!"

"Showed who?" Chandler asked, confused.

"My mo-om!" Monica replied, as if it should have been obvious. "We drank all of her money!"

"And the bar downstairs, we sure showed them," Chandler added, "spending all of our money there!"

"You're funnier when you're drunk," Monica laughed at the joke, leaning into him more as she grabbed his arm to steady herself.

"Or, I'm funnier when _you're_ drunk," he grinned, and she continued laughing.

"A-and we showed that stupid, drunker than us guy, who thought _I_ was Ross's mom," Monica added, suddenly stopping laughing.

"Mon, you're not still upset 'bout that, are you?" Chandler asked, and Monica looked down. "Oh, come on," he grabbed her hand. "You do _not_ look like Ross's mother. You-you were the most beautiful woman in the room tonight…"

Monica looked at him for a moment, trying to gauge, in her own drunkenness, how drunk he was. "Really?"

"Are you kidding? You're the most beautiful woman in most rooms-" Chandler was cut off as Monica wrapped her arms around him, kissing him passionately. He wrapped his arms around her, kissing back. Her hands were in his hair, slowly running through it. His hands were on her waist. Still kissing. Monica. Kissing Monica.

Shit, he was kissing Monica. And the small sober part of him that realized that, didn't stop him. This was something he (while he wouldn't have admitted it to anyone) had been dying to do forever. And it was happening. And Rachel didn't want him. Rachel still loved Ross, even if that was a moot point since he was getting married. Rachel didn't want him anymore. And for some reason, at that moment, Monica did.

And now she was going for his tie. And couldn't get it off. And was getting frustrated.

"Ties and alcohol don't play well together," Chandler said, nearly out of breath as he pulled back, and Monica smiled shyly. "How-how drunk are you?"

"How drunk are _you_?" she repeated back, still playing with the bottom of his tie.

"Fair enough," Chandler grinned, helping her with the tie as he loosened it, pulling it over his head. She then pushed his suit jacket off of his shoulders before they went back to kissing, moving slowly towards the bed. The slightly more sober part of his brain kept scolding him, saying she didn't smell like Rachel, and she didn't kiss like Rachel, and Rachel could always get his tie off. He pushed those thoughts aside, though, because Monica still smelled nice, and there was nothing wrong with the way she kissed, and, like he said, alcohol and ties don't play well together.

Mostly, though, he pushed all thoughts of Rachel out of his mind, because if Rachel didn't want him, he sure as hell didn't need her.

~.~

"Hello," Rachel was greeted by an overly-cheerful ticket agent at a ticket counter as she entered the airport, still running.

"Hello," Rachel smiled back. "When is your next flight to London?"

"Well," the lady typed a few things into the computer before looking back up. "There is a flight leaving in thirty minutes…"

"Oh, good!"

"And I do have one seat left."

"Thank you, thank you!" Rachel grinned, pulling out her wallet and passport.

"The last minute fare for this ticket is twenty seven hundred dollars."

Rachel dug through her wallet, shaking her head. "I just don't think I have enough left on my card…"

~.~

Chandler groaned inwardly as he woke up, not yet opening his eyes. The past night of the open bar at the rehearsal dinner, followed by the hotel bar, ran through his mind. He froze suddenly, remembering the rest of the night as Monica rolled closer, still asleep. He held his breath when she cuddled up next to him. What the hell was he supposed to do? Pretend to sleep till she woke up and left? Just get up and get ready? Wake her up and talk to her?

What exactly was the protocol for the morning after sleeping with one of your best friends/the sister of the man whose wedding you are the best man in/the best friend of the girl you just stopped seeing?

Chandler squeezed his eyes closed. There was no prior protocol for this situation. He wasn't sure even Joey would know the correct behavior. Well, no, Joey would probably just leave, but that was beside the point. At the sound of a keycard in the lock, Chandler shot up in bed, Monica's eyes opening wide. Joey was back. What the hell were they supposed to do now? As the door opened, Monica dove under the comforter, clinging to Chandler in hopes that it wouldn't be obvious she was there.

"I'm getting married today!" Ross shouted, opening the door. "Woo-hoo!"

"Morning, Ross," Chandler replied. How the hell did Ross have his key?

"I'm getting married, to-day!"

"Yea, ya are!" Chandler cheered him on, hoping he would just leave.

"A woo-hoo!" Ross yelled before turning to leave.

"Do you-do you think he knew I was here?" Monica shot up from under the covers the second he was gone, looking to Chandler for confirmation.

"I have no idea," Chandler shook his head. "I really don't think he would have just left if he knew, though."

"True," Monica nodded, running a hand through her hair. "Shit."

Chandler laughed out loud. "My thoughts exactly."

"We were _really_ drunk last night."

"Really drunk," Chandler agreed.

"We-we really shouldn't have…"

"Probably not," Chandler again agreed.

"I-I should get going," Monica moved to get up. "Can you not look?" she asked, clinging to the blanket in front of her.

"I don't wanna look," Chandler looked away as she got up. "I'll-I'll see you later then?"

"Yea, I'll see you later," Monica quickly pulled her dress on, holding her heels in her hands. "If we have to walk down the aisle together in a few hours, we should probably just pretend this didn't happen…"

Chandler swallowed the knot in his throat at the uncanny resemblance to an earlier situation. "What never happened?" he forced a smile.

"Well, bye, then," Monica smiled back, opening the door a crack to make sure the coast was clear before darting across the hall to her own room.

~.~

"Hey," Chandler smiled awkwardly as Monica linked her arm through his, waiting for Joey and another bridesmaid to get to the end of the aisle before starting to walk.

"Hey," Monica echoed.

"So, what we did last night, was…"

"Stupid," Monica finished for him in a whisper as they began walking down the aisle.

"Totally crazy, stupid," Chandler agreed.

"What were we thinking?" Monica forced a laugh. "I'm still coming over tonight, though, right?" Monica asked, to which Chandler hesitated, simply giving a smile as they parted ways at the end of the aisle.

Looking around the church as Emily started walking down the aisle, Chandler's breath caught in his throat. "When did Rachel show up?" he hissed to Joey.

"I dunno, she talked to Ross before the ceremony. Why?" Joey whispered back. Ross shot them both a dirty look for talking during the ceremony. Chandler just shook his head in response to Joey, glancing at Rachel before looking back to Ross and Emily, who were now both standing at the alter.

"Friends, family," the officiant began. "We are gathered to celebrate here today, the joyous union of Ross and Emily. May the happiness we share with them today be with them always. Now Emily, repeat after me. I, Emily..."

"I, Emily…"

"Take thee, Ross..."

"Take thee, Ross..."

"As my lawfully wedded husband, in sickness and in health, till death parts us."

"As my lawfully wedded husband, in sickness and in health, till death parts us," Emily finished, smiling at Ross.

"Now, Ross, repeat after me. I, Ross…"

"I, Ross…"

"Take thee, Emily…"

"Take thee, Rachel…" Ross trailed off, everyone looking around the room in shock. Chandler's heart sank. Not so much a moot point that she loved him, then. "Oh my god, Emily. Emily," Ross repeated, realizing his mistake.

The officiant turned to Emily, not sure what to do. "Shall I go on?"

~.~

Chandler slid his keycard, quickly opening his hotel room door. He had about three minutes until Monica was meeting him there. Rachel loved Ross, Ross loved Rachel, so why not let whatever was going to happen with Monica happen? He walked into the room, but quickly froze when he realized he wasn't alone.

"Hey," Rachel whispered. Chandler just nodded. "I got a key from Joey so I didn't have to go to the reception. Kinda awkward," she forced a laugh, but he just raised his eyebrows. "You're still mad at me."

"Why would I be mad at you?" Chandler asked coldly.

"Chandler, come on."

"What, did you come here to get Ross back, is that it? Because he said your name at his wedding. Good job," Chandler nodded, walking back to the door.

"No, Chandler, wait," Rachel ran over to him, blocking the door. "I-that's-that's not why I came…"

"Why did you come, then?" Chandler asked, trying to move around her to leave. Instead of answering, though, she threw herself at him, and before he knew it, she was kissing him, his back pressed up against the door. Chandler completely melted, despite alarm bells going off in his head. As much as he had loved kissing Monica, kissing Rachel was so much…more. It made his knees buckle in a way he thought was only possible in old black and white movies. It was infuriating in the best way possible. That was the _only_ way to put it. Infuriating. While there was nothing wrong with being with Monica, in fact, it was pretty damn amazing, being with Rachel…just didn't compare. Completely different.

He could see the future now. Making a pro/con list. The only con on Monica's side? Not Rachem. Rachel getting hurt. Monica getting hurt. Him getting hurt. Ross being pissed. Him possibly being physically hurt as well. More alarm bells.

"Rachel, no, no, I can't," Chandler finally pulled back, out of breath.

"Why not?" Rachel asked, looking hurt.

"I-I, last night," Chandler took a deep breath. "Last night," he breathed out, "I-I slept with Monica," he finally whispered, and Rachel stumbled backwards a couple of steps.

"You what?" Rachel whispered, trying to keep her voice from trembling. "So, you came up here looking for her, not me?" she asked quietly, and he nodded slowly.

"Don't look hurt," Chandler spit out. "You-you broke up with me, twice! You made it clear that we were over, not once, but twice!" he pointed out, and Rachel bit her bottom lip, nodding. "You stayed home instead of coming here! What the hell was all of that supposed to mean to me?" Chandler yelled, but then sighed. "Rach," his voice softened as he touched her arm, and despite how much he just wanted to be mad at her, his heart couldn't help but breaking at the hurt look on her face.

"No, no, it's fine. We're fine," she shrugged away from his touch. "You said it yourself, I ended it, twice," she nodded, looking towards the door as it opened.

"Oh, Rach," Monica rushed over to her. "Are you okay?" she asked, wrapping her arms around Rachel in a hug, assuming that Rachel was crying because of what happened at the wedding.

"I'll be fine," Rachel hugged her momentarily before pulling back. "I-I think I'm gonna go, though. I don't feel very, uh, wanted here anymore," Rachel glanced at Chandler before looking down. "I might just go see if I can get on a flight home still tonight," she sighed.

"Are you sure? You can stay in my room tonight," Monica offered, rubbing her arm.

Rachel shook her head. "No. No, I think I just need to go home," she sighed. "I-I'll see you guys back in New York," she said softly, pulling her suitcase with her as she headed out the door.

"Bye, Rach," Monica called after her.

"Bye," Chandler forced himself to speak, swallowing the knot in his throat. What the hell had he gotten himself into?

"Hey," Monica smiled at Chandler once the door closed, walking over to him.

"Hey," he forced a smile back, his mind still on Rachel and the look on her face before she walked out the door. "Look-"

"Emily took off!" Joey burst into the room.

"What?" Monica asked.

"She crawled out the bathroom window!" he exclaimed, looking around. "Hey, where did Rachel go? I sent her up here like half an hour ago."

"She left. She wanted to be alone," Chandler explained, and Joey nodded.

"Anyway, Ross is a mess," Joey continued. "You guys should really come try to talk to him, maybe help him look for Emily," he motioned for the two of them to follow as he walked out the door. Monica shot Chandler an apologetic smile, sorry for the interruption, which he tried his best to return.

Truth was, he couldn't have been happier for an interruption.


	10. I Don't Get No Sleep

Phase Three

Chapter 10: I Don't Get No Sleep In A Quiet Room

~.~

Rachel hung her head, clinging to the payphone at the airport as it rang in her ear. And rang. And rang. It seemed like a never-ending amount of rings before Phoebe finally picked up, accepting the collect charges.

"Rach, what happened?!" Phoebe immediately began off of Rachel's sad tone, and Rachel bit her lip, attempting to keep herself composed.

"Well," Rachel began with a sigh. "Let's just say that you are playing the role of Chandler in the Ross and Rachel Debacle, part two," Rachel laughed to herself.

"What? You love me now, too?" Phoebe responded, confused.

"No," Rachel spoke slowly. "You said he loved me…"

Phoebe paused for a second before gasping. "Wait, so, if I'm playing the role of Chandler, and I said he loves you, that means," she paused for a moment, remembering the beginning of Ross and Rachel, "that means, there's a Julie?"

"Something like that," Rachel agreed. "Only this time, I'm even more of an idiot, because I not only showed up at the airport, I also wasted three grand and flew 3500 miles to find that out…"

"Oh, Rach, but I was so sure," Phoebe tried to console her. "Wait, if I'm Chandler in this scenario, who's Julie?" Phoebe asked, realizing that Rachel hadn't exactly finished the story. "Rach?" Rachel again laughed, because if she didn't keep laughing at herself and the situation, she would surely lose it and cry. "Rach?"

"Monica," Rachel whispered.

"What?!" Phoebe exclaimed. "Did I mess up this metaphor?!"

"Nope, you got it. Perfectly," Rachel smirked. "Anyway, I gotta go. I can't-I can't talk about it. I just need to think. And eat. The only thing I've eaten since I left was on the plane here, and airline food barely qualifies as food. And this call is probably costing a fortune-"

"But you called collect."

"Yes, and you are at my apartment."

"Right, so you pay for that," Phoebe giggled. "Rach, no, don't go. What happened? Did you even talk to him?"

"For about thirty seconds, and then I just had to get out of there. So, here I am," Rachel kicked the wall beneath the payphone. "Flying standby home, so who knows when I'll get out of here, because I maxed out all of my credit cards on a stupid plane ticket to stupid London to do the stupidest thing of my life, and if that wasn't enough for one day, I also probably ruined a marriage as well!"

"Wait, you ruined a marriage, too?" Phoebe interjected, hoping to keep her from hanging up. "You've only been there, what, a couple of hours? Rach, talk me through all of this."

"I can't, honey. I-I gotta go. Hopefully I'll get on a plane soon."

"Rachel Karen Green you cannot just leave this conversation at…_this_!"

"Phoebs, I can't."

"Rach-"

"Phoebs," Rachel pleaded back, and Phoebe finally conceded. "I'll talk to you when I get home. Bye," Rachel sighed, hanging up the phone. She took a deep breath, trying to keep her composure, as she turned to go, pulling her bag with her as she sought out some place to eat.

~.~

Chandler leaned back against the brick wall of the hotel building, watching the sun come up. He took a drag of the cigarette in his hand, thinking that if Monica woke up and came down to find him, she would probably kill him. Rachel, on the other hand, might not be happy, but would surely not kill him. Chandler squeezed his eyes shut. He really needed to stop doing that.

It had been a long night. A long, long, long, long night. They had helped Ross search for Emily for hours, and had sat and listened as he made failed attempt after failed attempt to contact her by phone as well. He left messages on her cell, at her apartment, at her parents', and then would start the process over again. Sometime around 2 AM, Monica took the phone away from him. And then Ross had insisted they stay, not wanting to be alone.

So, they stayed. Chandler pretended to sleep on the couch in Ross's suite, not wanting to have to talk to Monica. However, he hadn't slept at all. Instead he'd spent the entire night thinking about Rachel. He wanted nothing more than to go after her and see if she was still at the airport, wanting to sit down and talk to her, actually talk.

She had ended it. She even agreed to that. She had ended it twice. He was not wrong in thinking that. He was entirely correct. He couldn't stop the sting in his heart and the burn in the back of his throat at that thought, though. He wasn't entirely correct. He was a fucking idiot, because, even though he loved Rachel, he let her break up with him. Twice.

But she loved Ross.

Chandler closed his eyes, his heart stopping as realization sank in.

He had a sudden flash back to the end of his relationship with Kathy, Joey's words ringing in his ears after he had jumped to conclusions about Kathy cheating on him without her ever confirming it.

_Dude, tell me she actually told you this._

Tell me she actually told you this.

She never actually told him this. Not once. Not once did those words come out of Rachel's mouth. She never actually admitted to loving Ross still. Not once. She had come to London for him, not for Ross. Ross had said her name, yet she had fled. She didn't come there looking for Ross. After Ross said her name, who did she go looking for?

"Fuck," Chandler whispered under his breath, putting his cigarette out as he headed back towards the door. He ran inside, heading up to his hotel room to shower and pack, deciding that Ross and Monica wouldn't really miss him that much since they needed to get to the airport in a matter of hours anyway.

He needed to get home. If Rachel was on her way home already, he most definitely needed to get home.

~.~

Rachel sat at an empty terminal, about to give up. She had been waiting to get on a flight home since the night before and was about to lose it. She just wanted to get home. Get home and shower and probably cry a bit. Mostly, she just wanted to be home and away from that stupid city. She hated London, which, really, wasn't fair since the only part of London she had seen had been the airport, the old mess of a building Ross's wedding had been in, and the Marriott. But still, she hated London, cursed it for ruining everything.

She never should have come.

So, she sat in a chair in the empty terminal, another flight gone without her.

"Rach?" Rachel looked up at the sound of her name, Ross walking towards her.

"He-hey," she forced a smile, standing up. "What are-what are you doing here?"

"Ha, now there's a question," Ross shook his head. "I'm waiting for my wife, whom I haven't seen since our wedding, to show up for our honeymoon," he laughed. "Oh, the plane started boarding twenty minutes ago. I'm sure they're leaving any minute now…."

"Oh, Ross," Rachel touched his arm. "I'm sorry, I never should have come…"

"No, Rach, don't be sorry. I'm glad you came," Ross smiled. "I'm the idiot who said the wrong name at the alter," he unsuccessfully attempted a forced laugh. "God, I am an idiot, huh? I mean, I thought she really might still show up today…"

"You're not an idiot, Ross. Okay, well, the thing at the wedding, not your brightest moment. But today," Rachel shook her head. "You're not an idiot. You're just a guy very much in love."

"Same thing," Ross again laughed, and Rachel recognized his laugh. It was either laugh at yourself or cry. "So, uh, when's your flight?"

"Oh, I'm flying standby. Have been for about 12 hours, so," she held up her fingers, which were crossed. "Any minute now…"

"Right," Ross nodded, looking up as the voice from the PA system from the next terminal over was barely audible.

"This is the final boarding call for flight 1066 to Athens…"

"And that's that," Ross shrugged his shoulders. "Guess I'll buy a ticket to New York instead."

"You're just gonna let her go?" Rachel asked, and Ross again shrugged, thinking for a moment. "So, the past couple of months were just for nothing? This whole trip, this wedding, were for nothing? You're just letting all of that go? 24 hours ago, you wanted to be with her forever, and one stupid fight, and you're just…letting her go?"

Ross thought for a moment, shaking he head. "You know what? No, no I'm not," he stood up straighter. "I'm gonna go back to her apartment and sit outside and wait, because she has to come home eventually, right? I just, I can't leave here without her. I mean, I know I'm an idiot, but, god, do I love her…"

"Well, there you go," Rachel smiled, patting his arm. "Go get her."

"Thank you so much Rachel," Ross moved to hug her. "Actually, you know what?"

"Huh?" Rachel pulled back.

"You should take these," he held out his tickets. "I mean, they're nonrefundable. We're not gonna use them. The whole week there is paid for. You-you should go. I mean, someone should use all of that, right?"

"What? You want me to go on your honeymoon?"

"Don't think of it as that. Just think of it as an all expenses paid vacation," Ross shrugged. "I mean, why not? Someone might as well go."

Rachel stared at the tickets for a moment. Getting the hell out of the airport sounded fantastic, as did not going home to Chandler and Monica at the moment. Maybe a week away, alone, was exactly what she needed. She finally smiled, reaching for the tickets. "Why the hell not?"

~.~

"Oh, yay, you guys are back!" Phoebe hurried over to the door as Monica, Chandler, and Joey walked in, all of them hugging her as they walked in. "How was London?!"

"Not as good as New York!" Joey exclaimed angrily, grabbing his suitcase and heading out the still open door. "The city so nice, they named it twice!" he added over his shoulder before walking into his own apartment.

"Um, okay then," Phoebe dismissed what Joey had said, turning back to Monica and Chandler.

"Hey, is Rachel back?" Monica asked, walking over to the refrigerator and grabbing a bottle of water.

"Oh, no, Ross called. Rachel went to Greece," Phoebe explained, and Chandler's heart dropped. Why did he have to be wrong about one thing after another after another with her? Rachel went to Greece with Ross…

"Hey, I'm gonna go check on Joey," Chandler mumbled, heading out the door and closing it quickly before either girl could say anything to him.

Monica looked after him and sighed. He had been avoiding her since the night they slept together. He'd even slept the entire flight home, or at least pretended to sleep. He obviously thought that night was a horrible mistake, but she couldn't believe he wouldn't at least talk to her about it. It was Chandler. He wasn't supposed to avoid her. Was he really going to let one stupid, drunk night ruin everything between them?

Phoebe cleared her throat, bringing Monica out of her thoughts. "Hey, I'm gonna take off. You look a little jet-lagged," Phoebe nodded at her, grabbing her purse and heading towards the door.

"See you later, Phoebs," Monica smiled as she left.

"Bye."

Monica sighed, walking towards the door. She reached for the doorknob, but hesitated, turning back around. Shaking her head, she turned back and opened the door, heading across the hall.

"Hey," she greeted Chandler, who was standing alone in the kitchen.

"Hey."

"Is Joey here?"

Chandler shook his head. "He went down to get coffee."

"Okay, look, I know you're kind of avoiding me right now, but…I just wanted to say thank you. For that night," Monica smiled, taking another step closer to him. "I mean, I was really going through a hard time, with my mother being herself, and that guy thinking I was Ross's mother…"

"Right," Chandler laughed, taking a step closer to her as well. "I'm sorry I've been avoiding you, I just, I'm _amazing_ at screwing up any kind of relationship, but I _think_ I have the friend thing down okay…"

"Yea, you do," Monica laughed. "I think you're better at the other part than you think you are, though," she added, to which Chandler shrugged. "So, we're okay?" Monica asked, moving even closer.

"We're okay," Chandler agreed, wrapping his arms around her as she hugged him. He kissed her hair, tightening his arms around her. Monica sighed, not letting go. Instead, when he pulled back slightly, she wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him.

And he kissed back. A voice in the back of his head kept telling him this was bad, bad, bad, bad, bad. 27 years of next to no women in his life, and, all of a sudden, there were two. At the same time. Neither of whom he wanted to hurt, but he had a feeling that being with either of them would eventually end up hurting the other one once they found out.

He must have done something somewhere along the line to piss off some sort of relationship god. Was this karma? Was he this bad of a person?

Well, at that moment, he was. He loved Rachel, but was still kissing Monica.

But Rachel had gone to Greece with Ross. Why couldn't he kiss Monica?

It was like there were a cartoon devil and angel, one on each of his shoulders, each arguing against the other. No, Rachel still loved Ross, and for all he knew, she was actually back with Ross, so there was nothing wrong with this. But, at the same time, there was a nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach that this wasn't right. As much as he had always thought something might happen with Monica, this wasn't how it was supposed to happen. She wasn't supposed to be just a rebound, a stand-in for her best friend. He was going to hurt her so badly if he kept this up, and he couldn't stand the thought of hurting her.

Chandler finally ended the kiss, shaking his head as he pulled away. "I can't. I-I'm sorry, Mon. I can't…"

Monica just nodded in response, moving towards the door. "I-I'll see you later, Chandler," she whispered, walking out the door. Chandler sighed, watching after her, the look on her face adding to the broken-heart feeling he already felt over Rachel going to Greece with Ross.

Chandler finally laughed out loud as he walked towards his bedroom, wondering when his love life had become a twisted plot out of one of his mother's novels….

~.~

_Well, this chapter took a turn I hadn't originally planned on…_

_I've been slacking on the updates lately…sorry! Writer's block and real life both getting in the way ;) But, thanks to a couple of late nights of not being able to sleep, I wrote this and most of the next part of I'll Be There for You. _

_Anywho, review, and I'll try to continue soon!_


	11. But It's Not All That Easy

Phase Three

Chapter 11: But It's Not All That Easy

~.~

_So, don't look at my stats too often, but I did yesterday, and holy crap, there are a lot of people reading this story! (And not reviewing ;) but that's beside the point). I'm pleasantly surprised at how well this story that I thought everyone would hate has gone over. So, seriously, thank you guys so much for the reviews and alert/favorites adds!_

_Oh, and with this chapter, this is officially my longest fic ever, beating out Butterfly Kisses in number of words. And, we're still going! I'm quite impressed with myself, haha._

_And I'm impressed with my quick update :) That hasn't happened in ages! I got this part done, though, and was just too excited with getting it written not to post it :)_

~.~

Chandler looked up from the newspaper he was reading, smiling and nodding at Phoebe as she went up to the counter at Central Perk to order before sitting down as well. "Ouch," he frowned at her.

"Ouch, what?" Joey asked, looking up form the muffin he was eating.

"She just flicked me!"

"Did not," Phoebe scoffed. Joey shrugged, going back to his muffin.

"Ouch!" Chandler again exclaimed as Phoebe flicked him in the back of the head. "What?" he turned to face her. "Why do you keep flicking me?"

"If you don't know, I'm not gong to tell you," she crossed her arms, resting them on top of her pregnant belly.

"Great, now all three of you are mad at me," he grumbled under his breath.

"What?" Joey asked, looking up again.

"He said, now all three of us are mad at him," Phoebe explained.

"Dude, I'm not mad at you," Joey smiled, patting him on the shoulder as he stood up. "You want anything else?" he motioned to the counter, and Chandler shook his head, so Joey headed up there.

"What? What did I do?" Chandler again asked Phoebe, this time quieter.

"Oh, I don't know where to start," Phoebe began. "Let's see, you lead Rachel on, and she goes to London after you, but then you screw that up being with Monica, who you are now avoiding as well, so, yea, why would I be mad at you?"

"How do you know all of that?" he looked at her in shock.

"Oh, I know everything," she smiled knowingly.

"Well, you can stop being mad at me. In case you hadn't noticed, Rachel went to Greece with Ross. And Monica is doing just as good of a job at avoiding me as I am of avoiding her."

"Wait, what?" Phoebe looked at him.

"I said, Monica is avoiding me, too."

"No, the other part. The Rachel part," Phoebe corrected him. "Rachel didn't go to Greece with Ross. Ross gave her his tickets because he was staying in London to work things out with Emily. Rachel went alone."

Chandler stared at her in disbelief. "What?"

"Rachel went alone, Chandler."

"Wait, she," Chandler trailed off. "Oh my god."

"I do have this for you, though," she handed him a post-it note, but then grabbed it back. "If you're not gonna be an asshole."

"I'll try not to be?"

Phoebe thought that over for a moment. "Good enough," she shrugged. "It's Rachel's flight information. She called me when she landed. She's coming home on Friday," Phoebe handed him the paper. "Do with it what you will."

"Thanks, Phoebs," Chandler grinned.

"Just don't screw up again, Chandler," Phoebe sighed. "I'm too pregnant to keep fixing all of your mistakes…"

"So," Joey sat back down with another muffin. "What'd I miss?"

"Oh, Chandler just offered to take us out to lunch," Phoebe grinned at Chandler, who glared.

"Dude," Joey turned towards him. "This is something you tell me _before_ I get a second muffin. Now I have to go get a to-go box," he sighed, standing up. "Unless," he picked the muffin back up, taking a bite as he started walking. "Yea, no, I can eat and walk. So, where are you taking us?"

~.~

"Hey," Ross walked into Monica and Rachel's apartment, where everyone was sitting around watching tv.

"Oh my god, Ross, how'd it go," Monica rushed over to him, giving him a hug.

"I think-I think my marriage is over," he laughed. "Again. Divorced twice before I'm 30. I can just see my next personal ad now…"

"What happened?" Phoebe asked.

"Well, she said she thought we rushed into everything too quickly, and we don't really know each other that well. And since I said the wrong name at the alter, that really put a damper on her trusting me, so," he sighed. "She wanted me to move over there to work this out, but I can't leave Ben, and," he sighed again. "And, if she moved here, she doesn't want me to see Rachel at all anymore, and," he paused, shaking his head. "I've known her for, what, a couple of months? I can't just start giving up parts of my life for her…"

"Dude, that sucks," Joey said, the others nodding as well.

"Yea, sorry, man," Chandler added.

"It might just be for the best, though, right?" Ross sighed once more. "I mean, if this was going to happen eventually with us, it's better that it happened now, at the beginning of the relationship…"

"Yea, at least you didn't do anything too hasty like get married or anything," Chandler quipped, receiving four glares in return. "Too soon to joke about it?" he looked around.

Ross finally laughed. "Yea, no," he laughed again, "It is pretty funny. If you think about it….Maybe we set some kind of world record for the shortest marriage ever. Or, hey, this will just make my next marriage look all that more successful. I mean, you can't really get any worse than marrying a lesbian at the first wedding, and then saying the wrong name at the alter at the second wedding," he laughed again. "See? I can laugh at myself…"

"Third time's a charm?" Joey offered, and Ross again laughed.

"Exactly."

"So, you guys are over?" Monica asked, more seriously.

"Looks that way," Ross nodded. "I mean, I don't know what else we can do. We're on two separate continents…"

"New York City and England are separate continents?" Joey whispered, leaning closer to Chandler.

"Well, New York is a city, and England," Chandler paused off of Joey's blank look. "Yep, New York and England are two different continents, Joe."

~.~

Chandler glanced at the computer monitors as he walked by, looking for Rachel's flight number. He'd already checked three separate times, but checked again, just to be sure he was getting the terminal number right. He'd been doing a lot of thinking for the past few days, since Phoebe told him Rachel had gone to Greece alone. And he hoped that Rachel had been doing some thinking as well, but not thinking of not wanting to be with him while she had been gone. Phoebe wouldn't let him go after her if she knew Rachel didn't still want him, would she?

He stopped when he got to the terminal her flight was arriving at shortly, bouncing nervously back and forth from his heels to the balls of his feet. He had no idea what he was going to say. He had a single flower in his hand, and absolutely no words prepared to say, which could be disastrous for him. He'd gone back and forth all week on meeting her at the airport, but had finally decided he just couldn't possibly not go. He needed to see her. God, he needed to see her. If she hated him and didn't want to be with him anymore, he would at least know it right away.

He really hoped that wasn't the case, though.

He watched out the window. The plane had landed a few minutes ago, and he was anxiously waiting for her to get off. When the door opened and the first few people began pouring through the door, he held his breath. Would she even see him? God, he hoped she would see him. Better yet, would he see her through the crowd of people? He attempted moving forward through the gathering crowd, his breath catching in his throat when he saw her. She caught his eye, biting her bottom lip as she headed towards him. God, those ten steps seemed to take an eternity.

"Hey," Chandler grinned as she walked up.

"Hey," she returned his smile, getting pushed even closer to him as the crowd of people pushed by. "I didn't expect to see you here."

"Phoebe gave me your flight information."

"Ah," Rachel nodded. "So…"

"Oh, this is for you," he smiled shyly, handing her the single rose he'd brought. "I thought a whole bouquet would be too conspicuous coming home, so…"

"Thank you," she smiled, taking it from his hand. "I, uh, I actually have something for you," she dug through her purse, pulling out a pack of cigarettes. Chandler looked at her quizzically. "Funny story. I actually bought them on a layover, on the way to Greece. Smoked about half of one and about died," she laughed, causing him to laugh as well. "They're your brand. I bought them because…because they reminded me of you. God, I miss you," she looked him in the eye, taking him being there as a good sign that he felt the same way.

"I missed you, too," Chandler replied softly, the crowd around them starting to disperse.

"What about-what about Monica?" Rachel finally choked out. "Because I've spent the past week thinking about pretty much nothing but you, but if-"

"It was one night," Chandler cut her off. "We're actually awkwardly avoiding each other, so that's lots of fun," he laughed, and Rachel smiled.

"I kinda, god, this is hard to say out loud, even if I've been thinking it for the past week," Rachel paused. "I kind of always thought…there was something there with you two…"

"Me, too," Chandler replied honestly. "The thing is, though, god, how do I put this," he paused, thinking for a moment. "It's like baseball. You-"

"Sports metaphors are completely lost on me," Rachel interrupted him.

"Okay, then," Chandler took a deep breath, thinking for a moment. "Shopping," he finally said. "Shopping isn't lost on you," he grinned, teasing. "Okay, so, Victoria's Secret always had a semi-annual sale, same time, twice a year-"

"You know this because…?"

"Ms. Chanandler Bong may or may not get the catalogue," he smiled shyly. "Not the point, though. So, they always have a sale, twice a year. And, yea, it's exciting, but you always know it's coming. You know exactly when it is. So, yea, it's still pretty cool, but it's just expected," he paused before continuing. "But, say you're at a department store, and, you see these boots. Some designer brand, last pair, your size. Because they're the last pair, they're half off," he paused. "As exciting as the sale is that's expected, how much better is the surprise of the one that's not? It's like, jump up and down in excitement, exciting…"

Rachel laughed. "The fact that you just compared our relationship to shopping might confirm the gay thing for some people, but," she shook her head, taking another step closer to her. "Kinda just makes me want to marry you," she joked, but paused a second later, realizing who she was talking to.

"Well, the fact that you brought me back cigarettes from your vacation kinda makes me want to marry you, too," he teased back, putting an arm around her waist as he pulled her closer. "Rach, I have thought of nothing but you for weeks. And I'm sorry if I'm an asshole sometimes. I-I really don't want to lose you, though," he said softly. "And I know I'm the king of screwing things up, but, Rachel," he took a deep breath, "Rachel, I love you."

Rachel grinned, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I love you, too," she replied before kissing him.

"God, I've made a huge mess of things, though," he sighed as he pulled back. "I mean, as messy as all of this seemed before, I think I just made it about ten times worse."

"Oh, at least ten time," Rachel laughed in agreement, keeping her arm around him as they started walking.

"So, how do I fix all of this?" Chandler asked. "I mean, what do we tell everyone? Especially Ross and Monica?"

"I don't know," Rachel paused, "Those Gellers can be pretty scary when they're angry."

"Oh, I know," Chandler laughed. "Hopefully there will be lots of traffic so we have time to make some kind of plan before we get home…"

"And, maybe some time for a little something else," Rachel grinned, wrapping her arms around his neck as she kissed him again.

"God, I missed you," Chandler grinned. "And I'm so, so sorry about…all of this."

"You don't have to keep apologizing," Rachel returned his smile.

Chandler just nodded. "Yea, I do."

~.~

A cab ride full of kisses interrupted occasionally by some discussion of what they should do had been entirely inconclusive, and when the cab stopped in front of their building, they had no more of a plan than when they left the airport. Chandler stepped out first, grabbing Rachel's hand and suitcase. Rachel smiled at the small gesture.

"So, what are we doing?" Rachel finally asked.

"Well, it's Friday, so Monica is working all day, Phoebe will be leaving us alone, Ross is busy pouting, Joey is still getting himself reacquainted with New York since he was so homesick, and I took the afternoon off, so…locking your front door and having some quality alone time?" he asked with a grin.

"God, but what do we _do-oo_?" Rachel over-emphasized the last word.

"Coffee first?" Chandler joked, but off of her stern look he stopped walking towards Central Perk. "I have no idea," he shrugged, leaning against the building, pulling out the pack of cigarettes Rachel had given to him. Off of her look, he smiled. "You gave them to me."

"I know," she sighed, leaning up against him.

"Hey, we'll figure something out," he wrapped his arm around her waist, kissing her forehead tenderly, and then giving her a quick kiss on the lips.

"Well, I'm gonna have to say, we go with your plan," Rachel finally said.

"Which was…"

"Coffee, and then locking ourselves in my apartment. We'll figure something else out later," she grinned at him.

"Rachel Green, I like your thinking," Chandler stood up straighter, kissing her temple before she pulled away. "You go get coffee, and I'll take your bag and meet you upstairs?"

"Sounds like a plan," Rachel pulled him forward by the bottom of his shirt, giving him another quick kiss before turning to leave. Chandler gave her one last grin before turning in the opposite direction, heading up to their apartment.

What both of them failed to notice was Monica, who had seen the entire scene transpire, turning on her heel and hurrying upstairs about thirty seconds before Chandler.

~.~

_We're getting closer to the end. I'm so excited to have a finished Randler fic, you guys have no idea! Now, if only I had some more inspiration to write the next part as quickly as this one…hmm…._


	12. The Consequences

Phase Three

Chapter 12: The Consequences

~.~

_Sorry for a bit of a delay with this part…moving really sucks, especially during the school year!!! However, I am sitting out on my ginormous balcony with my puppy while I'm writing this, listening to the cars on the highway about half a block away, waiting for the beautiful view of the sunset we get here in-between the buildings. So, moving sucks, but a new, awesome apartment is worth it!_

~.~

Monica came down the stairs from her apartment, planning on hanging out at Central Perk while she waited for Rachel to get home. She had taken the day off, not sure how Rachel was doing since she hadn't talked to her since the night of Ross's wedding. And, in all honestly, she wanted to talk to Rachel about what had happened in London with Chandler and how awkward everything was right now, just needing to get it off her chest. As soon as she opened the door and headed down the street, though, she saw Chandler getting out of a cab. What was Chandler doing home in the middle of the day? It was too late for lunch, but too early to be home for the night.

And then Rachel stepped out as well, taking his hand, Chandler grabbing her bag with his free hand. Monica froze, watching the two, who were obviously flirting. And then Rachel leaning up against him. And Chandler kissing Rachel. Monica's heart sank. More kissing. Talking. Flirting. Monica's hand flew up to her mouth, realization setting in. This wasn't new. This was something that had been going on.

"Oh my god," Monica whispered out loud, turning quickly and heading back to her apartment.

~.~

Chandler continued grinning as he practically ran up the stairs to their apartments, trying Rachel's door first, which he was pleasantly surprised to find already unlocked. However, his smile faded completely when he saw Monica leaning up against the counter in the kitchen, arms crossed, eyes red. When she met his eye, he immediately knew that she knew, but had no idea what to say to that.

"You're off work really early?" Chandler finally offered, quietly.

"I took off after the lunch shift to see Rachel when she got home," Monica replied, wiping at her eyes. She shook her head as he walked closer. "Don't."

"Mon-"

"Don't 'Mon,' me," Monica moved away from him.

"You weren't supposed to find out like this-"

"Oh, really? Is that why you two were making out right outside Central Perk, where none of us ever go?" Monica snapped back. "Asshole," she pushed against his chest when he unsuccessfully tried to move closer to her again. "So, what the hell is that? How long has that been going on? Did you cheat on her with me? God, Chandler, what is wrong with you!"

"It's not like that, okay," Chandler tried to explain, but she again cut him off.

"Then what is it like?" Monica crossed her arms. "Oh my god, what happened, that night after Ross's wedding? What did I walk in on?"

"Oh my god, just let me talk!" Chandler finally yelled back. "I'm finding that's my biggest problem. For all that I talk, I never really say anything. So, please, just let me talk," he finished, quieter, and Monica nodded silently. "It's been going on since right after Kathy," he started, and Monica's eyes widened.

"So, when I said you guys were spending so much time together," Monica whispered, and Chandler nodded. "Then why did you lie to me? Why didn't you just tell me?"

"I-I don't know. We were trying really hard _not_ to be together, but it just…didn't work."

"So, what, you _did_ cheat on her with me?"

"No! No, we broke up before London. Pretty much because I'm a complete asshole, but you know that. Maybe you guys can talk about that when she gets back," he unsuccessfully attempted a joke.

"Then what was I?" Monica asked, again wiping the tears from her eyes before they could fall. "I thought we had something. I thought, I always thought," she trailed off, trying to stop crying. "I always thought…there was something here," she motioned between the two of them.

"Me, too," Chandler answered honestly. "I was always just waiting for something to happen. I always thought there were so many times when we could've…" he trailed off, not wanting to make it worse. "But, less than a year ago, you shot me down…"

"At the beach? I thought you were just messing around.

"Probably about 80 percent messing around, 20 percent serious," Chandler joked, but then sighed. "Sorry, I'm not trying to put this on you, and, I know, it probably makes it harder to hear that I always thought something would happen with us, too. And, god, you have to understand, I never saw this thing with Rachel coming, and we tried really, _really_ hard to stop it, but," he paused, taking a deep breath, "I love her." Monica nodded, no longer attempting to cover the fact that she was crying. "I never, never meant to hurt you, Monica," he said softly, and she finally let him move closer without moving away. "I would never do that to you. You're the last person in the world I'd want to hurt."

"I know," Monica nodded, wiping the tears from her cheek.

"I'm so, so sorry, Mon," he continued, stepping forward to hug her, and she let him, pulling back slowly after a couple of seconds. "I'm sorry," Chandler repeated quietly, almost pleading, and Monica again only nodded. He had been prepared for Angry Monica when she found out. Sad Monica he had not been prepared for. He'd gotten used to fixing her broken heart when it came to other guys throughout the years, but what the hell was he supposed to do when he was the one standing there stomping all over her heart?

"Hey, I got you coffee, too!" Rachel giddily came into the apartment, setting the two cups on the counter before removing her jacket. "Gunther was acting really," she turned around, stopping suddenly at the scene in the living room, "weird," she finished in a whisper, making eye contact with Monica.

~.~

"Hey Gunther," Ross greeted Gunther as he walked up to the counter, having just passed Rachel as she left with two coffees. He had only asked her briefly about Greece, deciding that since she was leaving with two coffees and seemed to be in a hurry, she must have somewhere to be. "Just a black coffee to go."

"I don't know how you do it," Gunther mumbled, shaking his head.

"Do what?" Ross asked slowly, confused. "Drink black coffee?"

"Watch her date other guys," Gunther said, nodding towards the door Rachel had just walked out, before turning his back to get Ross his coffee.

"Well, we broke up, like, two years ago, and I just got married, so," Ross shrugged, pulling out his wallet as Gunther handed him the cup. "I think it's safe to say we're allowed to see other people…."

"Yea, but watching her with one of your friends? Isn't that weird?" Gunther asked, reaching for the money Ross was handing him.

"Wait, what?" Ross grabbed his hand back, still holding onto the money.

"Rachel and…god, the tall one. I always get Chandler and Joey mixed up," Gunther explained.

"Rachel isn't dating Chandler," Ross laughed, again handing the money to Gunther.

"Well, pretty sure they broke up for a while, but I just saw them out there," he pointed out the window. "_Definitely_ back together," he nodded, handing Ross his change. Ross didn't take it, though, staring back in disbelief. Rachel had two coffees in her hand. Who was she in a hurry to go see? If her plane from Greece had landed less than an hour ago, how was she back without a suitcase already?

Unless…

"Keep it," Ross shook his head, motioning for Gunther to keep the change, before running out the door and up to Rachel's apartment, forgetting his coffee on the counter in the rush to find out if Gunther really did know what he was talking about.

~.~

"Mon, I'm so, so sorry," Rachel started slowly, walking over to Monica. "I'm so sorry. God, I don't even know what else to say…"

Monica nodded, fighting the tears in her eyes. "It's okay. I mean, I love both of you," she looked back and forth from Rachel to Chandler. "I want both of you to be happy…"

"Ohmygodyou'reabiggerpersonthanme," Rachel choked out in a high-pitched squeal as she moved forward to hug her, just as quickly as she spoke, now also fighting tears.

"Wellyou'remybestfriend," Monica replied in the same high-pitched squeal, and Chandler looked back and forth between the two girls, not sure how they were understanding each other.

"You'remybestfriendtoo," Rachel pulled back from the hug, still holding onto her hands. "I'm still sorry," she replied slower, having taken a breath to calm down.

"I'm sorry, too-"

"Chandler!" Ross burst through the door, cutting Monica off and causing all three of them to jump. "Do you have something to tell me, Chandler?!" Ross again yelled, running after Chandler, who attempted to move away from the girls, but only made it as far as the kitchen before Ross had him cornered by the sink.

"I-I," he stuttered, not sure what exactly Ross had found out about.

"What is with all of the yelling?" Joey asked, running into the apartment from across the hall. "Oo-oh, did Ross find out about you and Monica?" Joey asked Chandler, slightly quieter, but still loud enough that everyone heard him.

"Wait, what?" Ross asked, looking at Joey. "Wait, so you're dating Monica, not Rachel?" he turned back to Chandler.

"No?" Chandler replied, not sure how to answer that.

"Wait, Joe, how do _you_ know about that?" Monica asked Joey, not too thrilled that everyone had somehow found out about the night they had both promised not to tell anyone about.

"Well, I came back to our hotel room the night before the wedding and saw you two sleeping there, so I just left, and figured you guys would tell us if you wanted us to know. But, if it's all out in the open now…"

"You slept with my sister at my wedding," Ross turned back to Chandler, who nodded. "Wait, but you answered 'no' to my last question," he paused, and Chandler didn't respond. "So, you slept with my sister at my wedding, _and_ you're dating my ex-girlfriend, and the timeline of all of these events overlaps?"

"Technically," Chandler finally choked out, and a second later, he felt Ross's fist hit his eye, and he stumbled backwards, grabbing for the kitchen counter as Ross stormed out of the apartment. "I probably deserved that from someone," he mumbled, grabbing at his eye and wondering when Ross had learned how to hit like that.

"Oh my god, are you okay?" Rachel asked, rushing towards him, Monica grabbing an ice pack out of the freezer.

"Du-ude, when did Ross learn how to punch?" Joey asked, moving forward as well.

"I should-I should go talk to him," Rachel said, and Chandler nodded, now holding the ice pack to his eye as he sat down at the kitchen table. Monica had walked away, going into her room to answer the ringing phone, glad for the excuse to leave the room.

"Dude, so you slept with Monica _and_ Rachel?" Joey asked as he sat beside Chandler, and Chandler nodded with a sigh. "I so underestimated you, man," he laughed, slapping him on the shoulder. "But, seriously, Monica and Rachel? Rachel and Monica?" he asked again. "Rachel," he held up his left hand, "and Monica?" he held up his right. "What about…" he trailed off, putting his two hands together as he nodded with a grin. "If ya know what I mean?"

"No, Joe!"

"Well, neither girl seems to hate you now, so, dude, I would so try-"

"No," Chandler cut him off.

"It's worth a shot-"

"No!"

"Phoebe's in labor!" Monica ran out of her room, phone in hand. "She just beeped in on my call. She's on her way to the hospital. We need to go!" she hung the phone up, rushing over to the boys, who had yet to move. "Come on, people, move, move!"

"Right, because the cab ride to the hospital will surely take longer than the hours of labor she is about to go through," Chandler quipped, momentarily removing the ice pack from his already swelling eye.

Monica paused, turning to face him as she crossed her arms. "So, do you want two black eyes, or are you good with the one?"

"I'm good with the one," Chandler nodded as he stood up from the table, grabbing at Joey's elbow in an attempt to get him up as well before following behind Monica as she walked out the door.

"Twenty bucks says she hits harder than Ross anyway," Joey whispered, laughing.

Chandler nodded, whispering back, "Oh yea, definitely."

~.~

_Um, if this chapter seems unsatisfying, it's because I had intended to have the next chapter and this one be one part, so a lot more actually gets resolved, but school and work and moving haven't left me much time to write (although I have a lot planned in my head), so I wanted to post something, and this seemed like a fairly logical place to stop. Hopefully I'll have the next part up soon, but I'm not making any promises._

_Also, okay, so I kinda stole a joke from Matthew Perry at the end there. He was on the Kevin Pollak chat show a few months back, and people can ask 5 questions via twitter, and one person asked him Monica or Rachel. He answered Monica without even thinking, and then Kevin asked if that was him answering or Chandler. And Matthew was like, yea, I think that just feels like it should be my answer since she was my wife….but I think we both know the real answer to that question is both, at the same time. Cracked me up, haha, and I've been dying to have an insinuation of that since then. :) Just thought I'd share._

_Anywho, review, please and thanks! :) I'll have the next part up as soon as I can! We're, like, two chapters away from being done. How exciting is that?!?!_


	13. Every Time She Sneezes

Phase Three

Chapter 13: Every Time She Sneezes I Believe It's Love

~.~

_Thanks for the reviews! I know I've said it, like, ten million times, but I really appreciate the reviews on this fic, especially considered how few people are still in this fandom, and the fact that Randler goes so against the canon couples of the show. So, thanks again :)_

~.~

Ross stormed down the stairs from Monica and Rachel's, heading back to Central Perk to grab his forgotten coffee. He winced as he grabbed at his hand. Why doesn't anyone tell you that when you hit someone in the face, it hurts your hand just as badly as it hurts their face?

"Forget that?" Gunther asked him, nodding towards the coffee cup on the counter, and Ross just nodded, gritting his teeth in pain. "What happened to you?"

"Oh, this?" Ross held up his already bruised and swelling hand, wincing at even moving it. "Nothing," he squeaked, through gritted teeth.

"Ross!" Rachel yelled as she stormed through the door. "What the hell was that? Are you, like, 16? You just going around punching people now?!"

"No, not just people, but-"

"But, what, Ross? Why is it _your_ place to get pissed off at Chandler? Did you see the three people in the room when you walked in? Were we fighting?" she paused, "No. We were talking. Which is probably what we should do. Or what you should have done with Chandler instead of hit him!"

"I'm sorry, he slept with my sister at my wedding, and he's been dating my ex-girlfriend behind my back for god knows how long! Really, what better reason is there to hit someone?" Ross yelled back, receiving a few odd looks from the other customers in Central Perk. Rachel moved a few steps away from them and closer to the couch, Ross following.

"Okay, first of all, Monica can take care of herself. You know that better than anyone," Rachel started. "Second of all…What right do you have to me, Ross? We broke up two years ago, you just got married….I'm not yours! You have no claim over me! You cheated on me. We tried and tried and all we do is fight," Rachel finally took a deep breath. "And I don't see what problem you should have with me dating Chandler. You would think that if you had a problem with me dating someone, it would be with dating some random person. I mean, don't you like Chandler?" Rachel waited for an answer. "That wasn't rhetorical…."

"Y-yes," Ross answered slowly.

"Is he a bad person?"

"Well, no, but-"

"But, what, Ross?"

"He's my best friend, Rachel…"

"That is my point, Ross!" Rachel threw her hands in the air. "You would think you would want me to date someone who you like and can trust and who makes me happy!"

"Yea, but it's _Chandler_," Ross interrupted her, but Rachel didn't wait for him to finish.

"You know what, Ross?" Rachel cut him off. "If you're going to be immature like this, fine. Screw you and the goddamn horse you rode in on," she turned to leave in a huff, but Ross reached out for her arm.

"Rach, wait," he grabbed her arm, but then pulled his hand back. "Oh my, oww!" he grimaced, holding his hand to his chest.

"You should really get some ice for that," Rachel whispered, still ready to leave.

"Rach, I-I'm sorry," Ross finally said quietly. "I-I, uh, I got served divorce papers today," he forced a laugh. "It's actually why I'm not at work right now. I've been married less than a week, and, already," he trailed off, shaking his head. "Let's just say, today hasn't been my best day."

"Oh," Rachel replied. "Well, I'm sorry about that, but you didn't have to take it out on Chandler's face. Although I think that you hitting him did help to ease his conscience," Rachel smiled, grabbing Gunther as he walked by. "Can he get a bag of ice?"

"So, what, exactly, happened with all of that?" Ross asked, sitting down on the couch, Rachel sitting beside him. "How did all of this happen?"

"Chandler and I?" Rachel laughed. "Well, see, that's the funny part. It happened right after he broke up with Kathy. We went to a bar and both got just completely wasted and woke up together. But then we spent a good month or so trying not to be together, and you know why?" Rachel asked, and Ross shook his head. "Because Chandler felt like he was betraying you. He cared more about your feelings than his own."

"I didn't know that…"

"Well, you didn't ask," Rachel replied, still a bit angry. "But then I ended things before you guys left for London, pretty much because Chandler went all, well, Chandler and freaked out about stuff, so that's how that ended up happening with Monica," Rachel continued. "But, anyway, he showed up at the airport today, and," Rachel shook her head, "I love him. I spent a week thinking about nothing but him, and, I'm sorry, no, that's a lie, I'm not even sorry if you're not okay with that. Because you _need_ to be okay with that," Rachel paused. "Just because we have a past doesn't mean you have some claim over me forever. And I love him."

Ross just nodded, now holding the ice pack to his hand. "I'll try really hard to be okay with that," he finally replied. "It's just hard seeing you with someone else, even after all of this time. Especially one of my friends…."

"I know," Rachel nodded. "It was hard for me to see you getting married to Emily. But you know what? I care about you, and I want you to be happy."

"I do want you to be happy, Rach. I-I want what's best for you. And if he is it…I'm okay with that. I'm not sure if I can say I'm happy for both of you yet, but I will be. I promise."

"Thank you, Ross," Rachel smiled, grabbing onto his good hand. "Now, what do you say we get you to the hospital and see if you actually broke anything in there? There's, like, fifty bones in your hand, so I'd say there's a pretty good chance you did," she motioned to his other hand.

"Well, actually, there are twenty-seven bones in the hand," Ross corrected, but then stopped, thinking about his throbbing hand. "Yea, it doesn't feel so good, so we probably should go get it looked at…."

~.~

"Hey, Phoebs," Chandler greeted Phoebe as he walked into her room.

"Where is everyone else?" Phoebe asked, watching behind him after no one else entered with him.

"Nice to see you, too," Chandler smiled at her. "Joey was having some really bad stomach and back pains in the cab, so he is actually being checked into a room right now, and Monica went with him," Chandler shrugged. "I think she's avoiding me."

"Oh! Did you talk to her? Oh, what happened with Rachel?!"

"Things are good with Rachel," he grinned. "And I'm pretty sure things will be okay with Monica, too."

"Aw, yay! Oh, but what happened to your eye?" she asked, noticing the bruising around it. "Did Monica hit you?"

"Ha! No, Ross did. He somehow found out about me and Rachel, and then Joey spilled the beans about me and Monica, so," he shrugged. "Kinda feel like I deserved it."

"Rachel!" Phoebe exclaimed as she walked through the door.

"I came here with Ross to get his hand looked at, and we ran into Joey and Monica in emergency room!" Rachel laughed. "Mon said you were up here. Are you okay so far? Is it as bad as they say?" she asked, walking over to Phoebe's bed and running a hand through her hair.

"Oh, it's worse. You won't be able to take it," Phoebe nodded insistently.

"Huh," Rachel replied, not sure what to do with that, before turning to Chandler. "Hey," she grinned, staring into his eyes.

"Hey," he replied, returning her grin.

"Hey!" Phoebe added, receiving two confused looks. "Oh, this was a two player game," she motioned between them. "Okay, I get it now."

~.~

"Hey," Chandler's eyes popped open as he sat up, Ross's voice startling him. He was sitting in the waiting room, Monica and Rachel both in Phoebe's room, and Joey waiting for what turned out to be kidney stones to pass.

"Hey," Chandler replied to Ross, who sat down next to him. "You're not gonna hit me again, are you?" Chandler asked, motioning to the cast on Ross's hand.

"Not for the next four to six weeks, at least," Ross laughed, and Chandler laughed as well. "Look, I'm sorry. And, I know you don't need it, in any way shape or form, but," he paused. "You have my blessing. With Rachel. I know you don't need it to be with her, but-"

"Thanks, man," Chandler smiled, patting him on the shoulder. "That means a lot. And I'm sorry we went behind your back-"

"Don't worry about it. It's all over."

"So, we're okay, then?" Chandler asked, and Ross nodded.

"We're okay. And I am sorry I hit you," Ross laughed.

"We've known each other for, what ten years? It was bound to happen eventually. I'm just glad it was you hitting me, not Monica," Chandler laughed.

"I know, right? She is so freakishly strong!" Ross replied, causing Chandler to laugh harder. "Hey, you think we should go check on Joey?"

"Yea, probably," Chandler said as he stood up, laughing suddenly.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh, just us," Chandler replied, still laughing. "You and your broken hand, me and my black eye, Joey and his kidney stones, Phoebe in labor with her brother's babies," he trailed off, still laughing. "We make quite the group, don't we?"

~.~

"What a long day," Rachel yawned, sprawling out on Chandler's bed next to him.

"No kidding," Chandler agreed, wrapping his arms across her as he pulled her closer.

"I think babies should _actually_ be delivered by storks. It would be so much easier," Rachel continued. "When I have kids, they are _so_ gonna be delivered by storks…"

"Is that so?" Chandler laughed, and Rachel just nodded. "God, I'm glad today is over. And that everything turned out alright," he paused. "I can't help but think that we could have made this a lot easier by just talking to Ross about this months ago…"

"I won't say 'I told you so,' but only because I'm okay with this, because everything turned out okay," she craned her neck so she could kiss him.

"Only okay?"

"Well, maybe a little better than okay," she sighed with content, settling into his arms. "So, how does it feel to be a namesake to someone? You know, to actually have another human being be named after you?"

"Kinda cool," Chandler nodded. "Although, after the third baby turned out to be a girl, I think they could have come up with a different name. I mean, Chandler is a pretty masculine name…"

"Eh, works on you," Rachel teased, causing Chandler to push her away. "Oh, you know I'm kidding," she giggled, moving back towards him. "I mean, you are clearly the picture of the word 'masculine,' what, with your black eye," she touched the edge of his eye, causing him to wince, "and your I-haven't-shaved-in-two-days stubble," she ran her hand over his face before running her fingertips across his lips, smiling when he kissed them. "God, I love you," she grinned, leaning in to kiss him before laying her head down, suddenly very aware of how many hours she had actually been awake. She hadn't slept at all on her flight home from Greece, and that had been well over 24 hours ago.

Chandler pulled her down so that she was lying completely on top of him, head resting on his chest. He kissed her temple, sighing with content as he closed his eyes as well. "I love you, too."

~.~

_I'm pretty sure this fic is the most of Ross I've ever written. Ever. I find him so hard to write…He's a complete mystery to me, ha._

_Also, just btw, I am totally a fan of Chandler as a girl's name. I liked it as a girl's name before they went and used it as one for little baby girl Chandler on the show. I'm pretty much a fan of boys names for girls in general, though….says the girl named Jamie, who has two parents with the same first name (no joke!)._

_Anyway, review, and I shall continue wrapping this up soon :) One more part to go! Can you feel the excitement?! Can you, can you?! :) _


	14. Epilogue

Phase Three

Epilogue: As Long As This Is Love…

~.~

_I'm just gonna re-emphasize that I got inspiration to continue this fic from the original one-shot that it was from the song _Anna Begins_ by Counting Crows, and tell you that you should go listen to it because everything by them is amazing. Just throwin' that out there…That being said, I own none of the lyrics I used as chapter titles. Or, really, most of the titles to any of my fics, because at least, AT LEAST ¾ of them are song titles…_

~.~

**About two years later….You'll get exactly when eventually :)**

~.~

"I should go," Rachel mumbled, still not quite coherently awake as she attempted to roll out of Chandler's arms, having already hit the snooze button on his alarm clock three times, and knowing that any second it would go off a fourth.

"Mmph, don't go," Chandler groaned, still half asleep as he felt Rachel slip away from him and move to get out of bed, switching off the alarm clock. He groggily reached out one arm, pulling her back down on the bed.

"I have to go shower and get ready for work," she sighed, but gave in, cuddling up beside him.

"Shower and get ready here. I need to get up, too," he continued to mumble, eyes still closed.

"I can shower here, but getting ready could be a bit of a problem since all of my clothes are across the hall…"

"I don't see the problem in that," Chandler finally opened his eyes, grinning at her, and Rachel playfully swatted his chest in return. "But seriously, why are all of your clothes across the hall?"

"Because there is just no way in hell all of my clothes and shoes will fit in there with all of your clothes," she motioned to his already full closet.

"Well, if you would stop buying me clothes and bringing me stuff home from work, it wouldn't be that full…."

"Oh, but you're just so cute! I love dressing you up all handsome," Rachel grinned, ruffling his hair.

"Glad to know that's why you keep me around," he grinned back, lacing his fingers through hers as she grabbed his hand. "So, since you sleep here every night, you are pretty much just renting out a room from Monica to store your clothes in?"

"And my shoes," Rachel nodded. "Do you have an entire room to offer me for my clothes and my shoes?"

Chandler just laughed, finally sitting up as he conceded in the argument they had been having for months. "Shower?" he asked, and she nodded.

"Should I go grab clothes now, or just shower first?"

"Well, I still see no problem in you having no clothes to wear over here, so…"

"I have a meeting at nine, so I kind of have to be to work on time…"

"I would be late for a meeting for you if there was nakedness involved," Chandler pointed out, frustrating Rachel further.

"Chand-lerrr," she groaned, dragging out his name.

"I love it when you moan my name," he laughed, ducking as she went to smack the back of his head. "But, seriously, shower first? You take like an hour to decide what to wear, and I don't want to be late for work," he jumped out of bed and away from her, but she threw a pillow at him anyway. Chandler ducked, but not soon enough.

"You're such an ass," she laughed, throwing the other three pillows on the bed at him as well as he tried to jump out of the way of each one, laughing even harder than she was.

~.~

"Are your eyes closed?" Chandler asked Rachel, leading her across the hall from apartment twenty to apartment nineteen.

"No, but your hands are over them, so I can't peek even if I want to," Rachel grumbled, causing Chandler to laugh.

"Am I not allowed to surprise you with something?"

"Oh! Did you get your mom's book?"

"Yea, all of this was because I got the advance copy of my mom's new book she promised you," Chandler said sarcastically, leading her to Joey's room and opening the door. "Okay, open 'em!"

Rachel slowly opened her eyes, which actually were closed under Chandler's hands, not wanting to ruin whatever surprise he was so excited about. She looked around Joey's room, which was now completely empty. She scanned the room, her vision landing on a lone shoebox on the floor.

"You got me a room for my clothes and my shoes?" Rachel asked in disbelief, tears in her eyes, and Chandler just nodded, stuffing his hands into his pockets as he grinned. "Oh my god, I love you so much!" she wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him before kissing him. "What about Joey? Is he okay?"

"Yea, no, one of his sisters, I don't remember which one, I still can't tell them all apart, is pregnant again and her husband is out of town a lot for work, and she was looking for some help, and, he offered, so," Chandler shrugged. "It seemed like kind of good timing. I don't know what he's doing after that, but he'll be okay. He made if for twenty-some odd years before he met me, so I'm sure he'll be okay," he smiled at her reassuringly. "Aren't you going to open the box?" he asked, pointing to the shoebox.

Rachel looked at him suspiciously, slowly walking over to the box. "I already own these shoes," she looked at him again, and he nodded, but motioned for her to continue. She picked it up, taking the lid off. "You're such a liar!" she grabbed the book from inside, pointing it at him. "She said you'd have it by today!"

"Guilty," Chandler grinned. "Open it."

"The book? Like, start reading it?" Rachel asked, and Chandler just looked at her expectantly. Rachel set the box back down, opening the first page of the book. She flipped to the dedication page; Nora's dedications always cracked her up. They were usually about some ex-lover of some sort or some relationship that inspired one of the characters or storylines. Rachel wrinkled her forehead, reading the one line printed on the page. Marry me. She flipped to the next page, looking for an explanation. "Who does your mom want to marry?" Rachel asked after a moment, looking up at Chandler expectantly. But he was no longer standing beside her. He was down on one knee. Her hand flew up to her mouth as she realized what was going on. "Oh my god," she whispered, tears already welling up in the back of her eyes.

"Rach," Chandler started, and despite all of the planning that had gone into that moment, he suddenly found himself unable to steady his voice. "I-I love that you are the one person in the world who is grumpier than me in the morning," he started off, causing them both to laugh, which helped with his sudden bout of nerves. "And I love that you, somehow, miraculously, love both of my parents, whom I sometimes have a hard time loving," he continued, still grinning. "I love that you are so terrified of kids, you won't even hold a baby," he laughed, and she narrowed her eyes playfully, grin still on her face. "Mostly, I love how just, amazing and…unexpected, everything in the past two years has been with you. And I know that neither of us quite has everything figured out, with future plans for work or kids or whatever else, but the one thing I know for sure…is I want to spend it with you. I want to be scared with you. I want to figure it all out with you. Because the one part of it all that I have figured out is that I-I want you. I need you," he continued, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a ring box. He didn't even attempt to hide the tears in his eyes as looked back up at her, hands still covering her mouth, though he was certain from her eyes that she was smiling. "So, Rachel Karen Green," he ginned, opening the box, "Will you marry me?'

"Yes!" Rachel leapt forward at him, knocking him backwards onto the floor. She wrapped her arms around his neck, still lying on top of him on the floor, and she kissed him, first on the lips, then the cheek, then the neck, and he laughed, sitting up with her still on top of him, kissing her passionately on the lips. "I love you so much," she grinned, kissing him again.

"I love you, too," Chandler grinned as he pulled back. "Well, do you want the ring?" he finally asked, Rachel seeming to have forgotten about that part in all of her excitement.

"Yes, yes! Oh, that comes with the last yes, right?"

"Right," Chandler laughed, slipping the ring onto her finger.

"Oh my god, it's perfect," Rachel nodded, admiring the ring on her finger.

"Really? I mean, if you don't like it-"

"I don't like it, I love it!" Rachel cut him off, nodding enthusiastically. "Oh my god, how did no one blow this? None of our friends can keep their mouths shut!"

"Because no one knows," Chandler smiled. "Well, my mom, of course. And your parents," he continued.

"Oh my god, you really went to my parents first?" Rachel asked, biting her lip. "Are you, like, seriously, perfect?"

Chandler laughed outloud. "Doubtful. But, yea, I had lunch with your dad, and he said I should talk to your mom as well because he wasn't about to, but that she would be hurt if she didn't know, so, then I had lunch the next day with your mom…"

"You're the best," Rachel grinned, still sitting on his lap. "Hands down, the best."

"Well, glad you feel that way, since you're gonna marry me and all," he grinned, tightening his arms around her.

"I am, huh," she ginned. "I just can't stop smiling!"

"If you need to stop smiling, just try out Bing as your last name," Chandler nudged her, and Rachel thought for a second.

"Nope. Rachel Bing. Could really be worse," she shrugged.

"What last name would be worse?"

"Oh no, I meant I could have a worse first name to go with Bing. I mean, imagine if my first name was Bada," Rachel looked at him, dead serious, and Chandler burst out laughing.

"Oh, look what I've done to you," he kissed her hair before moving to stand up and pulling her with him.

"You really didn't tell anyone else? Not even Joey? He didn't move out for us?"

"Well, he kinda moved out for us, but he just knew I wanted to live with you. He didn't know I was gonna propose," he smiled. "The grinning is contagious, by the way. I can't stop, either."

"Well, wanna go make it official by telling our friends?"

"Oh, I have a better way to make it official," Chandler wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her against him as he kissed her. Long, slow, and infuriating. Kissing her was still infuriating in the best way possible. "Ya know, consummate this new room slash closet, as well as our betrothment…"

"Not sure that's a correct form of that word," Rachel laughed, sighing with content, his arms still around her. "God, I can't believe you! You're so sneaky!" she grinned, looking down at the ring once more. "Oh, this is one gift I will most definitely not be returning for store credit!" she looked up at Chandler with a grin, and he just laughed, squeezing her tighter.

~.~

"Hey, guys, guess what?" Rachel asked, practically running into Central Perk, Chandler a few steps behind.

"What?" Joey and Phoebe, who were sitting on the couch, asked in unison.

"Guess what?!" Monica came running in as well, cutting off the conversation.

"Ooh, what?" Phoebe asked, eager to hear whatever everyone else seemed so excited about.

"What's going on?" Ross asked, sitting down in the chair with a cup of coffee, missing the beginning of the conversation since he was at the counter ordering.

"Rachel and Monica both came in and said 'Guess what?' about ten seconds apart!" Phoebe replied, overly excited about the situation. "Oh, it's just so much suspense!"

Rachel and Monica looked at each other, and Rachel nodded to Monica. "You go first."

"Aw, let Rachel go first," Joey whined, thinking he had an idea of what Rachel was going to say since he had moved out that morning.

"Okay," Monica started. "So, you know how last year I had lunch with Richard? And it was nice and not awkward, but we both decided to just leave it at that?" she paused. "Well, I'm at work tonight, cooking in the kitchen-"

"As you should be when you're at work," Phoebe interjected.

"Right, well, anyway, I'm cooking, and one of the servers comes back to tell me someone wants to come back to compliment the chef-"

"Which you love but would never admit outloud," Phoebe again interjected.

"Do you want to tell the story?" Monica turned to her.

"Oh, no. You would probably tell it better," Phoebe smiled at her. "Thanks for offering, though!" she patted her arm.

"Anyway," Monica continued, "So, I'm waiting for the customer to come back, and when they do, guess who it is? Richard!"

"Oh my god!" Rachel exclaimed.

"What happened next? What'd he say?" Phoebe asked.

"Well, he said that since we had lunch last year, he hasn't been able to get me out of his head. He even spent six months in Africa working with blind kids!" she continued. "And he said that he went to lunch with my dad last week, and all he could do was think about me, and that he still loves me, and if he didn't come tell me, he would regret it forever."

"But what about…?" Rachel asked, thinking about why things had ended between the two years before.

"That's the thing. He said that, he said that…he said that the past three years without me have made him realize that he wants to be with me, no matter what. He wants to get married and have kids with me…"

"Well, what'd you say to that?" Ross asked after she was silent for a moment, but he got his answer as Richard came walking through the door, and Monica walked over to him, wrapping her arm around his waist.

"Hey, guys," Richard greeted them with a smile. "And congratulations, to you," he added to Chandler, extending his hand to shake hands with Chandler, who was still standing at the end of the couch. Chandler accepted his hand, but squinted his eyes, trying to figure out how he already knew what they had just come down to announce to their friends. Off of Chandler's look, Richard feared the worst, that he had yet to propose at all, and he had completely ruined it. "And, um, congratulations to all of you as well," he added as an afterthought, looking at the rest of the group on the couch.

"Wait, why did he congratulate you, Chandler?" Phoebe turned to around on the couch to face him.

"I didn't, I-" Richard started, but Chandler cut him off.

"It's okay," he grinned. "I was just wondering how the hell you knew about something that happened less than an hour ago."

"Oh, well, I ran into Dr. Green at the country club about a month ago, and we played golf, and he told me how you guys had just gone to lunch, and I just assumed…"

"Just assumed what, just assumed what?" Phoebe asked, looking back and forth between the two.

"You had lunch with my dad over a month ago?" Rachel looked at Chandler in surprise. "How long have you had the ring?" she asked, but quickly bit her bottom lip, realizing that she had inadvertently let their surprise slip to their friends.

"Wait, what?" Monica asked, dropping her arm from around Richard's waist as she took a step towards her friend. "Are you guys…?" she trailed off, and Rachel nodded, holding up her left hand as she grinned. "Oh my god, congratulations!" she first hugged Rachel and then Chandler. "I should have let you go first with your 'guess what!'"

"Dude!" Joey stood up, going to hug Chandler as well. "I just thought you wanted to live with her. I didn't know you wanted to marry her!" Chandler laughed as Joey hugged him.

"Lunch alone with Dr. Green?" Ross looked at Chandler sympathetically.

"Scariest hour and a half of my life," Chandler laughed as Ross hugged him as well.

"Congrat's, Rach," Ross hugged her as well, kissing her cheek.

"Thank you, Ross," she smiled at him. "That means a lot from you…"

"I can't believe you didn't tell any of us, you sneaky bastard!" Phoebe exclaimed as she hugged Chandler, who laughed.

"Right, because any of you guys can keep a secret," he motioned around the group. "I can't even trust Richard with one, and I haven't even seen him in years!" he added, grinning at Richard to show he was only kidding.

"Oh, how did it happen?" Phoebe bounced slightly, clapping her hands.

"Well," Rachel started. "I've been more or less joking about how the only reason I haven't officially moved in with him is because I need an entire room for my clothes and shoes, and, well," she grinned, looking at Joey, "he surprised me by arranging that since Joey moved out."

"Dude, where'd you go?" Ross looked at Joey in surprise.

"Living with my sister to help her out with the kids since her husband travels for work and she's pregnant again," Joey explained. "But we can walk about me later! Rachel, keep going!" he urged her on.

"So, he brought me into Joey's empty room, and the only thing on the floor was a shoebox," Rachel continued.

"Oh! With a ring in it?!" Phoebe asked when Rachel paused, digging through her purse.

"No, his mom's latest book," she handed it to Monica, who was closest.

"Really, Chandler?" Phoebe turned to him. "Porn? Come on, you're more romantic than that…"

"Open the book to the bookmark," Rachel explained, and Monica opened it, holding it so that Phoebe, who was next to her, could see it as well.

"Aww," they both said it unison, Richard smiling since he had been reading over Monica's shoulder, before handing the book over to Joey and Ross to see.

"Nice," Joey nodded to Chandler, who smiled in return.

"We should go celebrate!" Monica suggested. "Drinks, some place nice?"

Everyone nodded in agreement as they began shuffling out of the coffee house, deciding where they should go, Monica and Phoebe already discussing wedding plans for Rachel a moment later. Chandler and Rachel lingered behind, and Chandler took her hand in his, kissing first her hand, and then her ring. Rachel grinned, pulling him with her after the rest of the group.

"Oh, hey, Gunther," Rachel said as they stopped suddenly, since Gunther, standing with folded arms, was blocking the door.

"Yea, you would," he replied, looking sternly at Chandler. "For the record, though, I do like you much more than Ross," he added, moving out of their way to let them pass through the door, and both burst out laughing the second they were through it.

"You know he's always had a thing for you, right?" Chandler asked, and Rachel nodded.

"Oh, yea. No way I would have lasted longer than a day working there if he hadn't," Rachel laughed as they caught up to the rest of the group. "So, what did we decide?" she asked.

"Oh, we decided you should get married next summer, and the colors should be," Phoebe paused, looking to Monica, not remembering what they decided on.

"I meant tonight. Drinks? Celebrating?" Rachel laughed at her friends.

"Oh, right," Phoebe smiled. "Wait, did we even talk about that?" Phoebe asked, again turning towards Monica.

"Well, this should be fun," Rachel raised her eyebrows as she looked at Chandler, referring to the wedding-planning her friends were obviously already doing for her. Chandler squeezed her hand, still focused on her, not on their friends, who were now trying to decide where to go. Rachel smiled. "Yea, this should be fun," she repeated, more seriously this time, referring not to the wedding planning, but to their future.

~.~

_And there ya have it! A finished Randler fic, a woo-hoo! And-AND almost a week ahead of schedule! My birthday isn't until Sunday! This chapter probably wasn't completely necessary, and I could have probably ended with the last one, but I got this idea in my head and had to write it. That, and I wanted things to end happily for Monica as well :)_

_Originally, I had intended to have Monica be a lot angrier when she found out about Chandler and Rachel, but…well…I wanted this to end happily for all of those involved, and I didn't want it to mess up her friendship with Rachel or Chandler. And I didn't want it to get too dramatic and over my head and get lost and abandon it. I think that, at the wrong time or in the wrong situation, Randler could potentially be disastrous to the entire group if they hurt either Geller too much. I didn't want that. I wanted just a bit of angst, but a happy ending. Et voila :)_

_And, if this were a Mondler fic, I could see the loads of "boo, Richard!" reviews I would get for having him be with Mon, but…seeing as this is a Randler fic, I'm thinking you guys can handle it. I like Richard. If Monica isn't going to be with Chandler, I think she should be with him. He's a good guy. _

_I have no idea what I'm writing next. Well, I'm finishing _I'll Be There For You_, but other than that, I have no idea. Not sure if I want to try another Randler, or some more Mondler. I want to write some Mondler, but I feel like it's all been done, and I don't want to write anything unless I come up with an original idea. We'll see, I guess. _

_Just thought I'd let ya know :)_

_That all being said, thanks sooooo much for sticking with me through this fic! I thought it was going to completely bomb and everyone was going to hate me since most of my fans are Mondler fans, but I was pleasantly surprised to see how many people both read and reviewed this. Oh, and I broke 100 reviews, whoo! You guys are seriously the best! Thanks again!!! (and, ya know, reviews are still appreciated for last parts of series, even though there is no need to beg to continue…) ;)_

_Jamie_


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